Write what you know

Write what you know. I heard that all the time when I started writing. I even said it a few times when I taught writing.

I have been thinking about this phrase a lot recently. What does it really mean? Does it mean I should only write stories about white females? I hope not. Looking through my works in progress, almost none of my characters are female. Some aren’t even human.

Does it mean I should limit myself to American themes and styles? Maybe. Or maybe I should just be a little more considerate when writing characters from a different background than my own. I have written several pieces in an imitation of Japanese style. To me, my Japanese inspired stories are a tribute to a culture and style that I find fascinating. Something I wanted to try and capture. To others, those pieces might seem like appropriation. That was not my intention at all, but because I am a white American is that just how the world will see it? I want to say these pieces are harmless, but I am not Japanese. I do not claim to be an expert on Japanese literature or culture, but I do my research and try to recognize the places my ignorance or bias show through. Is that enough?

In high school, I wrote a story about a young man in West Texas who cross-dressed. He was the star of the football team but liked to paint his nails and wear prom gowns. His secret came out, and in the end, he committed suicide. I had just finished reading The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry, and I was inspired by the tragic young protagonist. I was also learning about homosexuality and other alternative lifestyle choices from a new group of friends. And, like many teenagers, I was struggling with depression. This story brought all of these pieces of my life together. Looking back, I think I poured more of my soul into that story than anything else I have written since. I was young. I didn’t know how to write without exposing myself completely.

They published it in the Lit Mag that semester. I was so proud of myself. I had been writing since I was little, but this was the first time my work had been approved by my peers. I decided then that I wanted to be a writer.

My first writing workshop in college, I volunteered to go first. I made some edits to this story. After all, it had been a few years. I had grown. I understood more about writing and myself. But it was still the same story.

I got ripped apart by one of my classmates. He was gay. He was my friend. And he had a point. My character was a hodgepodge of all the things straight high schoolers believe about homosexuality. Just because the character liked to wear dresses, it didn’t mean he was gay. I didn’t understand my character or the world he was supposed to represent. I didn’t know what I was writing.

I still don’t believe that write what you know means you should only write about people like yourself. That would make for a lot of really boring stories. However, there are certain things you can’t write about unless you experience them or really do your research. If I were to rewrite that story today, I would make sure I knew as much as I could about the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of young gay men. It wouldn’t be first-hand information, but I could still know enough to write about it with authority.

Because I do believe there is something that we all know well enough to write. We all know how to be human. We just might have to dig a little deeper to know about a human that is different from us. But isn’t that what writing is all about? Helping us see the world through different eyes. Understand someone else’s story. I know what love feels like. I know about pain, fear, confusion, hope, and joy. My experience might be slightly different than the situation my characters find themselves in, but in the end, I am just a human writing about being human.

So write what you know, but don’t be afraid if you don’t know it yet. You can’t wait for someone else to tell your stories for you. Just do your research. And don’t stop writing.