What do Annie Proulx, Neil Plakcy, John Varley and Arthur Golden have in common?
They all write about places and people diametrically opposed to what they are.
Annie Proulx, a thrice divorced woman with three sons and a daughter, wrote the multi award winning short story Brokeback Mountain, a story about two Wyoming ranch hands who work together one summer and become reluctant lovers, a love affair that goes on in secret for years, neither man able to speak of the love they have. Annie Proulx is a) not a man b) not gay c) not a ranch hand. Yet her writing won awards and went on to become an iconic film that won awards all over the world, including Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Director’s Guild awards.
Neil Plakcy is another award winning author who has written a series of books about Kimo Kanapa’aka, a mixed Hawaiian-Japanese-Chinese-Haole homicide detective in the Honolulu Police Department. Now I’ve met Neil, he’s a wonderful, talented man, but he’s not a) a cop b) Hawaiian, Japanese or Chinese c) does nor nor has he ever lived in Hawaii (he lives in Florida) But his books are wonderful and I’ve never heard of anyone taking exception to his skill in writing about the place or the man.
John Varley is a Hugo Award winning white Texan who wrote some remarkable books set on a goddess made world called Gaea. His characters in that series ranged from a bi-sexual black female ship’s captain turned wizard called Cirocco Jones, and impossibly, bizarre creatures out of legend like centaurs and flying angels.
Arthur Golden is a middle-aged, Jewish American man who authored the critically acclaimed Memoirs of a Geisha, a story about a young, Japanese girl who was raised/trained to be a geisha girl.
How can these people, so different from the characters they portray do it? Is it wrong for them to try? Is it wrong for a white person to write about a black, a male to write from a woman’s POV? Someone who lives on the east coast to write about the west coast, or an American to write about a Chinese character living in 4th Century China? Are there lines that writers shouldn’t cross in their stories? And if there are, who draws those lines?
My books all deal with gay men living in modern America, in most cases in Los Angeles, a city I did live in once, but haven’t visited in over twenty years. My most recent book, not yet published is about a young Latino man from a gang ridden barrio in South Central Los Angeles. As I wrote it, I wondered if I was going to get flack for writing about a world I have never lived in, so in the last while I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I’ve come to some conclusions. I know I’ve been criticised for writing about L.A. since I don’t live there now. And all of us who are female and write gay male fiction face the criticism that we have no business doing so. Is there any merit to what those critics say?
Personally I’m of the mind that as writers we are supposed to delve into worlds and people we don’t know, in some cases can never know. This is the nature of good fiction. Tame books, told about everyday lives, can be good literature, but for me that’s not what I want in my books. I want to explore new places, from new POVs in a way that allows me to live them vicariously. My final argument about this way of thinking is that there would be no science fiction, no fantasy and no historical books, since all those require the writer to step outside of their comfort zone and put themselves in another’s shoes. Our bookshelves would be a lot lighter and less interesting if we followed those rules.
L.A. Boneyard
I also think, that as long as we invest in the research and don’t succumb to stereotypes, that I want the freedom to write the stories that come to me. I use the Internet on a daily basis to not only find out about people and places, but I use Google Maps and their Street View to see what a neighborhood looks like. I’m lucky in that L.A is one of the first cities to have its streets mapped. I’ve also invested several hundred dollars over the years in books about police procedure, bios of active gang members, and I have built up contacts within both the LAPD and people who are considered gang experts. I can tap these, as well as some L.A. friends, who can help me keep my facts true. It must work, I’ve had more than one compliment on how I make L.A. live and so far, not one taking me to task for getting it wrong. Finally, I devour any and all books and movies I can find set in Los Angeles.
What do you do to ‘keep it real’? Do you write about places or people unlike your own? Do you think there are things we shouldn’t write about?
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True but the other day I wrote about how I grew up outside of my culture. My mother had no friends who were other than Caucasian. Not one associate so I was five before I asked her why my skin was different and eight before I asked her why I didn’t have dolls or books with my own people on them. Sad thing is they didn’t much exist. No biggie but when I older and met my A.American friends, their family dynamics were so different than mine, lingo,jokes just entire way of being that to this day one I don’t fit and two I fail to understand a lot of things. It’s not that I don’t want to write a urban story, a story of struggle for a black woman coming from the bottom up either in a bad neighbor hood or in general. I just can’t tap into the mindset to make it feel real. So until I can relate or find the muse I won’t put myself out there to fail.
IMHO, if you write 3D characters, keep it real, and have enough in the way of data to frame it even more realistically, then you can definitely write outside your experience without a problem. Otherwise, you cannot write historicals, about paranormal creatures, or have any characters who aren’t the same gender, race, age, historical, and cultural profile as you–and that’s kinda crazy.
When in doubt, do the research and have the appropriate people critiquing it.
I have male characters in my books, though I write hetero romance. So that’s outside my experience; I’ve never been a man. One of my heroes is immortal. The heroine of my current WIP is a vengeance demon. So those are definitely outside my experience.
Sorry, that’s a bit tongue in cheek. Short answer: I don’t think anything at all is wrong with writing something outside your experience/race/culture, as long as you take the time to make sure you’re doing it correctly. Take time to learn about the culture or race you’re writing about. Do your research, because it’s darn sure that if you get something wrong, someone will call you on it.
Well, I fall into the catagory of women writing gay male romance. Do I write as a gay man would? I highly doubt it. Part of what you have to take into consideration, though, is who your audience is. I’m writing me stories, mostly, for other women like me. (Why women want to read and write about gay male relationships is a whole other topic!) So given that I don’t write like a man, and my stories are not necessarily geared toward what men look for in a story, I am, in a way, writing to my own experiences and strengths, in that I’m not trying to be a man, or appeal to men, gay or straight. I’m writing my stories, my way, to please my own asthetic. My own feelings and judgements are present under the skin of my characters whatever they might look like on the outside.
As for setting, occupations, and the paranormal, like any good storyteller, you don’t want to look like an idiot. You research. No one can ever exerience enough in one lifetime to write only about those experiences. Like you said, our bookshelves would be a lot lighter. The trick is getting the facts right, and supporting those surface details with the good, strong bones of your own emotional life. That’s where “writting what you know” comes in.
I think, anyway.
Jaime
Well, I fall into the catagory of women writing gay male romance. Do I write as a gay man would? I highly doubt it. Part of what you have to take into consideration, though, is who your audience is. I’m writing me stories, mostly, for other women like me. (Why women want to read and write about gay male relationships is a whole other topic!) So given that I don’t write like a man, and my stories are not necessarily geared toward what men look for in a story, I am, in a way, writing to my own experiences and strengths, in that I’m not trying to be a man, or appeal to men, gay or straight. I’m writing my stories, my way, to please my own asthetic. My own feelings and judgements are present under the skin of my characters whatever they might look like on the outside.
As for setting, occupations, and the paranormal, like any good storyteller, you don’t want to look like an idiot. You research. No one can ever exerience enough in one lifetime to write only about those experiences. Like you said, our bookshelves would be a lot lighter. The trick is getting the facts right, and supporting those surface details with the good, strong bones of your own emotional life. That’s where “writting what you know” comes in.
I think, anyway.
Jaime
I write outside myself, but if I am writing a different sex or race I always try to get someone from that background to go over it with me to make sure I capture everything properly and didn’t offend. It is always fun for me to step into someone else’s shoes.
Wonderful post, Pat!
Is there anything we should not write about? I don’t think so. Any subject can be approached with taste and sensitivity.
I also try to write outside my limited range of knowledge….I’m Baptist, but love to write about priests. I’m straigt…but, like you, I love to write about m/m relationships.
I live in a semi-rural town outside of Houston, but love to write about Hollywood and New York.
I suppose ‘writing outside myself’ is my way to live the things I can only dream about. In my writing, I can make them real.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Pat…and some very fascinating information…and thanks for letting us share our thoughts.
If I wrote only within the bounds of my experiences, we’d have some very boring books submitted to publishers from me, and I would never get the first contract. We should write wherever our imagination and inspiration takes us.
With that said, we do, however, have the responsibility to research what we have not personally experienced to ensure it is an accurate portrayal of a place or lifestyle. It shows when a writer doesn’t bother to learn.
Writers create books about murder all the time. Do they have to murder in order to do it? Of course, not. It’s simply a matter of allowing our minds to expand in such a way that we can equate our own emotions and experiences with something totally out of our realm. And honestly? I think it brings a new appreciation and enthusiasm for those places and lifestyles as well.
Great insight, Pat. Fantastic blog. Can’t wait to see what you come up with for your next spot at AWH.
I love the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, but have to admit I’ve never read the book. If the movie is half as good as the book, then I’ve got to add another one to my reading list, lol.
I’ve been writing outside of my self or the box for years. However, I think it’s because I have the ability to become what I want to be–if that makes sense. I’m told I’m odd, so maybe that has something to do with it, lmao. I see into things that most ignore, and I incorporate those things into my writing. I think that’s where my novel The Red Storm came from. I’ve never been a ship captain, have never been on a ship at all, know little about the ocean but, I became the captain of The Red Storm, brought in races of various worlds and color, and researched my world right down to the effects of what explosions underwater do to the human body. As a result, I learned a lot and had tons of fun writing a great book!
I thinks it’s good to step out of your comfort zone sometimes. I’ve written in the mans POV a few times and find it exciting to think like a man. I’ve also never been a vampire but I love writing about them. I tend to make up cities and towns because I like…well…making things up as well I like setting my own rules. I’ve also written about cops and have never been one or even personally known one.
My life is too boring to write about. Who would want to read about a middle aged woman raising three kids struggling to make ends meet. Boring!!! LOL
Well, in using our imaginations, we as writers become a part of our characters. Not saying that we do the things our characters do, but we write their stories. In some of mine, my muse has been a serial killer, a tough man who doesn’t know how to show his feelings, and a bisexual male. I’ve been a truck driver but I’ve written from the male point of view so there’s the difference.
I think I have to agree. There would be way less books on the shelves if author’s lacked the imagination needed for different types of stories. But at the same time we as author’s separate our own personalities to become what the story needs to survive. That’s just my opinion, right or wrong.
I think getting out of our comfort zones are good. It brings better understanding and respect which is always a good thing. I also think that if we were ever forced to write only about races or groups we belonged to, then writing and books would become terminally dull. I know the stuff I could write would be. Either that or I’d have to go out and kill a few people in creative ways or become a bank robber or go back to school and become a cop or a doctor or veterinarian or… you get the point. We’re all human first, it’s up to us to bring truth to our characters and always respect them.