Writing - a discussion

[amberdreams]

I was on tumblr the other day and I came across some writing advice in the form of a long list. I didn't make a note of the blog I was on, or copy the list itself but basically, it went along the lines of:
By all means, include African Americans in your story - BUT do not presume to tell their story, it is theirs to tell.
Include Native Americans in your story but do not presume to tell their story, it is theirs to tell.
Include gay men in your story but do not presume to tell their story, it is theirs to tell.
Include transgender characters in your story but do not presume to tell their story, it is theirs to tell...
and so on.

I'm sure you get the gist, and the point they were making.

At first sight, I was nodding in agreement - this is merely an extention of the old adage 'write what you know', isn't it? So yeah, I could see some validity in what they were saying. But then I got to thinking. Surely, by the time I'd eliminated all the categories of people in their list whose stories I was not qualified to tell by dint of being who I am, the only protagonist remaining for my stories would have to be a short, fat, middle aged white woman.

Who the hell wants to read about me? I (and everyone else) would be reduced to self insert fic, which I abhore.

I feel suddenly I'm sounding like a Daily Mail reader, but surely this is political correctness gone mad.

Or am I missing something here?

Feel free to pitch in!

Comments

[amypond45.livejournal.com]

I can't help but think about writing as an excercise in imagination, in writing about what you don't know in your everyday life. Acting is the same. How can an actor who grew up in Texas in an intact family possibly hope to understand how to play a monster-hunter from Kansas whose mother died when he was a baby? Being human means being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes, being capable of making that imaginative leap. I guess to me that's as least as important as being politically correct.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Indeed - I'm sure 90% authors write about stuff they don't know and have never experienced.