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Write Every Day: 12 November 02019
Nov. 12th, 2019 07:43 pmGreetings! This is the Write Every Day Check-In Post for 12 November 02019.
Sometimes I think of the adage "Write what you know," which is sometimes a thing that I say when people talk about putting into stories things that they are either interested in or have experienced in their lives. Like many adages, if you only followed it, we'd end up having a lot fewer stories. At the same time, we could stand to have fewer stories of people appropriating or caricaturing the lived experiences of others. So, maybe "Write what you know and stay in your lane" is more the thing being offered. Except that sometimes, with research and care and sensitivity reading and a lot of things designed to make things not appropriative, exploitative or otherwise terrible, it's okay to have a story written that's outside of your lane. But there's still a lot more that can be done to bring and otherwise promote people writing their own voices before we think about stories that have done their research and gotten things put together and can do well.
The reason his comes to mind is that in today's writing material, I am about to include a family story. It's not something that I've experienced personally, thankfully, as it's not a completely pleasant story. But that also complicates the question of writing what you know. It's something in the family, told as a funny story or two, and it's going to be really useful in not only adding words but helping metaphorically explain something to someone who's having a bad day and not feeling all that great about themselves.
I also sketched out the possibility of another songfic, based on the potential implications of new canon, but assignments come first-ish, so maybe when there's enough of a cushion of words to feel like I can divert my attention for a bit, I'll think about that one. Maybe after the other fic that's been patiently waiting for me to get on with it, as that one is going to be much more comedic.
Plot bunnies breed if you're not looking at them and trying to get them closer to completion.
How are things going for all of you?
Here's the tally so far:
( Rally-ho! )
Sometimes I think of the adage "Write what you know," which is sometimes a thing that I say when people talk about putting into stories things that they are either interested in or have experienced in their lives. Like many adages, if you only followed it, we'd end up having a lot fewer stories. At the same time, we could stand to have fewer stories of people appropriating or caricaturing the lived experiences of others. So, maybe "Write what you know and stay in your lane" is more the thing being offered. Except that sometimes, with research and care and sensitivity reading and a lot of things designed to make things not appropriative, exploitative or otherwise terrible, it's okay to have a story written that's outside of your lane. But there's still a lot more that can be done to bring and otherwise promote people writing their own voices before we think about stories that have done their research and gotten things put together and can do well.
The reason his comes to mind is that in today's writing material, I am about to include a family story. It's not something that I've experienced personally, thankfully, as it's not a completely pleasant story. But that also complicates the question of writing what you know. It's something in the family, told as a funny story or two, and it's going to be really useful in not only adding words but helping metaphorically explain something to someone who's having a bad day and not feeling all that great about themselves.
I also sketched out the possibility of another songfic, based on the potential implications of new canon, but assignments come first-ish, so maybe when there's enough of a cushion of words to feel like I can divert my attention for a bit, I'll think about that one. Maybe after the other fic that's been patiently waiting for me to get on with it, as that one is going to be much more comedic.
Plot bunnies breed if you're not looking at them and trying to get them closer to completion.
How are things going for all of you?
Here's the tally so far:
( Rally-ho! )
