okay i am here for all the #ownvoices books always, but there is a way to write outside your lane if you choose to do so. aside from tons of research and feedback, it requires humility and an acute awareness that you are telling a story with severe personal limitations.
possesing the writing skill or a passion for the cause you’re writing about or a secondhand experience of having witnessed an event related to what you’re writing does not entitle you to write a story from a POV you don’t share.
there is no room for entitlement here at all.
there are systemic inequalities in place that have made it hard for certain communities to tell heir own stories, and you must acknowledge that when you choose to write outside your lane.
it’s a decision you must take seriously if you take yourself seriously as a writer.
prepare to be accountable for this decision. prepare to acknowledge the limits of your perspective, and answer to what you’ve done to mitigate harming the communities you’ve chosen to represent.
if you’re writing #ownvoices or not, prepare to be criticized, listen, and learn.
signing off with this incredible thread by @djolder re: criticizing art, the inevitability of imperfection, and the genuine benefits of discussing different responses to works of art from multiple perspectives.
i’ve been thinking a lot how important it is to protect your creative energy from being harmed by people who don’t quite understand what it means to be a writer, and i have a few thoughts:
1) there’s the well-meaning but ultimately frustrating banter loved ones will engage in with writers about the practical (read: financial) barriers to writing professionally, and that’s it’s own demon.
2) then there’s something i don’t see many people acknowledge often enough, and that’s the one-size-fits-all writing advice demon, which can be particularly harmful coming from people perceived to be successful/professionally knowledgable.