Hi there, I got an idea about writing (yet another story I will never complete, but that’s beside the point for now) and basically I have nothing in common with my characters and thus I don’t truly understand their (fictional) lives. do you believe there is a need to live something you wrote about yourself before you put your character into that situation? is it stupid to write about e.g. African American ghetto when all I ever known about it is from equally fictional movies on tv? Or say being a “Caucasian” person writing about “Asian” or other racial differences in characters? as an author you don’t really know how people different to you actually live. Or take BL genre (often written by straight women)? And other similar genres. My newest story idea requires me (lol requires, but it’s true, no? Stories sometimes demand to be written) to write about something I know nothing about. And even if I do research into it- I never lived it, how can I write about something I’ve never felt myself? Would that spoil my story, the fact that I’ve never been in my characters shoes? Or do you try to substitute with things you know about and imagine when writing? such as playing basketball and losing a game (which you might know how it feels because you played in high school) to substitute for feelings of loss in something like a war between two fictional kingdoms? anyway, this whole thing above sounds like a rant, but if you guys have any opinions- I would be glad to hear them...
It is not like every author knows what they are talking about, I watched and read things that realistically speaking don't make sense (not talking about fantasy and such) yet they are fun in their own way, just don't go too far unless you plan to make it comedy focused or the sarcastic kind of work
It is definitely possible to write about something you havent experienced... you just need to do research on them at the very least, and then try to understand their point of view. I mean.... mystery novel authors arent murderers yet they could write bout them. It’s all about putting yourself in your character’s shoes... and research on the topics you want to write
I feel like Authors and KR authors especially have this problem of using too many stereotypes which indeed makes the story stale as an african-arab i can definitely say that i had my good share of laughs on how some stories seriously make The protagonist go to either Syria / Pakistan / Israel and just fix everything by killing a few god knows which military bases and BOOM world peace. But overall if it isn't someone who knows more than just the surface i don't think they would count it as a "CON" for the novel, But on the other hand if you actually delve deeper into the character and give the reader something other than the stereotypes It does feel nicer to read.
Being an author is like being an actor. You go into the character's role, if u dont get it, u do research.
In the end, this is also part of the reason I never post my stuff either. Still, I'm of the view that you should just roll with it. Post it first and see the reaction, then keep at it if it's fine.
Well, for a very specific things like culture, political matters, history or something that may affect people view or create a conflict on that particular things, I think a deep research is very necessary to do so when a person tied deeply with what you write will actually appreciate and maybe become an instant fan But if it just matters in daily life or some silly things, I think a shallow research is viable
that’s roughly what I was thinking... I never “cared” for ethnicity or religion or whatnot in my writing before. Character A could have had any skin color and any city or fake kingdom as his/her background. But for some reason this time in my head there is a very particular group of people that I am not too familiar with (well apart from some friends back in school, but I now know that my perception on certain political or racial issues as a teen were completely different to how I see them as an adult), and thus a real research would probably be helpful, I believe... actually it is starting to sound like a fun “writing exercise” to do. In a way that should help with the plot as in fact I always struggled to continue the plot in my previous stories, hence they were put on hold at best. THANK YOU everyone for your input!