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I don’t write what I know.
At least, I don’t exclusively write what I was taught in school or by my community. My parents did their very best to broaden my horizons, but there is only so much a parent can teach. While it is hard to know what you don’t know, probing at the boundaries of your ignorance is of the utmost importance to the writer’s soul and candid introspection.
It is sorely limiting to write only what you know. If we all did that, autobiography would be the only category at the bookshop. All speculative fiction demands both authors and readers step outside what is real, and what is known, into the unknown. As Ursula K. LeGuin said, ‘Write what you know, but you may know dragons.” The advice of ‘write what you know’ is imagination limiting self censorship if taken too literally. It can kill creativity, stifle stories, and leave an author a bumbling mess trying not to step on too many toes.
Better advice is to write what you take the time to know. Curiosity should drive creativity, and pursuit of artistic excellence should drive us to create stories that ring true. If you’re willing to go down the wikipedia rabbit hole for a day to find out the origins of an obscure flower for one scene, then you have no excuse not to use the same sort of dedication when including BIPOC, LGBTQA, and/or disabled characters. While I know many writers are solitary creatures, the beauty of the internet means it’s easier than ever to email someone with the expertise on the topic you want to write about. No phone calls required! While social media can often be a hazardous, if not outright toxic place to be, there are also opportunities to speak to, interact with, and learn from those outside of your religion, culture, race, or county. When used correctly, it is an excellent social research tool.
Your story impacts the reader, and it impacts other authors. If you are writing a story of a minority, consider the impact your story has on the minority you’re inspired by. Importantly, consider whether or not your story gives back to that community. Does it help showcase the humanity of those groups? Does it fairly represent their struggles, even if doing so clashes with your preconceived notions? Are you as the author helping support these groups in some way? While it might be difficult to offer monetary support (given that author royalties are fairly paltry on average), showcasing and promoting minorities within the industry is an excellent way to show support. If you owe some of your success to a minority group, you should be doing what you can to uplift them.
I wholeheartedly believe that authors should write with intention. The words you place on paper matter, and can change the world. Make sure that change doesn’t cause real world harm. Be an Ursula K. LeGuin, not a J. K. Rowling. Don’t write only what you know now. Become more, learn more, and write that.
Happy Writing,
L.J.
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