I wanted to get some opinions.
I've been wanting to try play writing for awhile and I have some ideas based on transgender issues, such as the suicide rate, the bathroom battles, or family not being happy with someone transitioning.
The thought stopping me is, "but it's not my story..." I went through depression and suicidal thoughts long before I even knew I was trans. I was never discriminated against in a bathroom (mainly due to not going into a men's room until I was well into HRT) and despite my mother's issues with it, she never gave up on me or kicked me out.
So my concern is, does it look bad if I'm writing about things I'm seeing other trans people going through, but never experienced personally? I know not every playwright is writing about personal experience, but something just feels...wrong about it.
I dunno...opinions?
There are different ways you can write something. It could be your personal experience, the experience of others or a fictional account. Writers use all three modes of writing so it would be a story you can tell. The warning is you must not provide personal information unless you have permission to release that information. Sticking to general descriptions should be safe to write about.
The best story we can tell is our own. [emoji5]
When friends and colleagues ask me about trans stuff - which I'm open about and happy to share - the only caveat I give them is that those are MY experiences and that there are a huge variety of identities and expressions in our community. This doesn't make my own story any less relevant though.
Write about what matters and is important to YOU. It will find a place in some people's hearts if it comes from yours. X
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@baileycftm
Some of the most evocative story telling comes from being the 3rd person in the room, its easy to write the victim in a bathroom scene in which obvious fear and anger react to aggression etc, BUT the more interesting story is the 3rd person in the bathroom who see's the aggressor and the victim and is 1) too fearful to step in 2) anxious knowing this could be them because they too are trans... 3) tormented to know they would be stepping into a world of conflict like this... 4) steps in and helps 5) joins the agressor out of fear and later resents themself.... and it goes on.. many options.
So you could even tell parts of a story you didn't directly experience by being the bystander - because this is just as legitimate and more interesting in some ways, imo. and by telling the story in a 3rd person for certain events you are also not claiming to have been a victim of these events if it does in fact trouble you personally to have not been personally affected by certain events of our time.
Hope this helps,
Sonja.
If every author write their own experience only then I'd never read my beloved sci-fi. Be creative. If you think you doing it wrong, you can find people who had such experience and talk to them, maybe they can give you some thoughts :)
But I guess it mostly requires not personal experience but understanding human nature.
Quote from: Alice V on August 29, 2018, 04:32:24 AM
If every author write their own experience only then I'd never read my beloved sci-fi. Be creative. If you think you doing it wrong, you can find people who had such experience and talk to them, maybe they can give you some thoughts :)
But I guess it mostly requires not personal experience but understanding human nature.
Well I come from a galaxy far far away, don't know about you, but fair point. [emoji6]
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