Otherness

I'm buried neck-deep in research for a new book, and I've been pondering the issue of writing as "Other." By that, I mean writing from a social, racial, or economic perspective that is not my own. "Write what you know" is an overused cliche, and one I'm not fond of. Yes, writing about people and things we already understand gives authenticity to what we have to say. But the key to "writing what you know" is to always know more. Research. Learn. Experience. Without stopping.

Source

Writing as Other feels less intimidating behind the veil of fantasy. We write novels set in otherworld locales, full of characters who don't precisely resemble anyone in particular. Fantasical characters can be an amalgamation of traits from a broad range of cultures, races, and countries. We don't have to get every detail correct because, hey, it's fantasy. In the midst of that mentality, if we (as authors) don't put the proper amount of research and thought into our characters and fantasy world, we run the risk of appropriating traits in an exploitative, and perhaps even offensive, manner.

For this next book, I'm writing from the perspective of another race. This scares the hair off my head, to be honest. I'm excited about this story, but I am anxious to get the details as correct as I can. I've been doing an absurd amount of research using firsthand sources. I'm trying to unpack my white privilege. And there's a decent chance, even with all my research and conscientiousness, I'll still get things wrong. But the process of studying, putting pen to paper,  making mistakes, and learning from those mistakes, is the heart this creative process known as writing.

Bring on the mistakes and the learning. I'm ready. 

(And in the last week, as I've been struggling to articulate my thoughts on the matter, Tor.com put up a great post on "Writing What You Don't Know." So yeah ... what John Sprunk said.)