Writing 101: Write What You Know... or not

Ploughshares has a great series for writers called "For Those About To Write." The lessons are often pretty basic, but with a twist, like this one  about writing what you know.

Write what you know is a common refrain for newbie authors, and in a lot of ways it makes perfect sense; you’re absolutely the only person out there with your very particular take on what’s what. Sometimes, however, sticking with that singular perspective is just too limiting. It can be easy to lean on your own life for creative inspiration but this can also become a kind of literary crutch. Or maybe you’ve found yourself adopting a recurring identity that just seems to appear once you sit down to start typing. -- Jordan Kushins 

As someone who has a glut of stories sitting on the hard drive from the perspective of twenty-somethings in the 80s and 90s, I can appreciate this advice. It's also a fine line between branching out and writing a character completely different from you, and appropriating an experience that isn't yours. Nearly every writing class I've had has maintained that experience is yours -- the writer's -- for the taking, but I'm not comfortable with this, and I think instructors do their students a disservice by not talking about writing the other. Granted, this isn't really what the Ploughshares post is about, but I think it deserves mentioning.

I've linked to this post  by s.e. smith several times before, but I think it best illustrates the importance of research and accepting that when writing about oppressed groups you will mess up. Maybe grandly.