Two Minds
A quote from a book I'm beta reading struck me with particular force.
"Of all the conflicts of the world, nothing can surpass the conflict between two minds wanting sole possession of the same body."
Lady Glamis, struggling with some of the same issues I am in rewrites, said, "I have a feeling that the fabric full of holes might be heavier than I think."
"Write what you know," we are told, as writers. "I'm sick of that phrase," she said. Me too. As if we need only to know a thing, and then expressing it will be easy. Ha.
We don't write to express ourselves. We write to know ourselves.
(Art by thadeoradicarlous.)
Comments
Honestly, while the saying "Write what you know" has merit, it can be misinterpreted to mean "Don't even think about writing something you haven't experienced for yourself" which is dead wrong.
You are human and thus you have experienced human things. You are a writer, presumably with a deep command of the language and a feel for how to express meaning gleaned from reading, writing and looking about yourself. So, I say, you CAN write ANYTHING. You just must stretch the perceived boundaries of yourself to do it.
Sometimes you will fail. Sometimes you will need to work really hard to make that expression look easy, graceful, and true. But you can do it.
And if you don't try new things, what's the point of writing? It would seem really boring and mundane then, to me, anyhow.
I love that.
It's an interesting thought. I'm not sure I 100% agree, but I feel we're probably writing different kinds of work for different reasons.
I'll go with: Don't write what you know, write what you want others to know.
Thanks!
Sorry if I've been the cause of any domestic disputes.