They say to write what you know. They say to take risks and write what you think or believe or feel. They say a lot of things. Though I'm not overly sure I know who this magical "They" is. And how can 'they' not agree on what to write or even how to write. I do agree with Thoreau however. No matter your age, where you live, or what you do you can participate in experiences. Life is constantly happening all around us but we have to put forth the effort to engage in it. We have to grab the experiences that life has to offer.
“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”― Henry David Thoreau
If you only write what you know then fantasy and science fiction would not exist in our libraries. I don't know anyone that has been to Middle Earth or met a troll. I've never encountered an elf on the streets of Bolivar or even Chicago or LA. I don't know anyone that has lived on a ship in space and traveled galaxies. How can anyone know those things. You have to take risks. You have to believe in your thought process and most importantly your creativity. However, even if you take Thoreau's advice and live before you write you can't have experiences listed above. You can however, have confidence.
Engaging in life allows confidence to grow. Engaging in life allows creativity to grow. Engaging in life allows you to learn to take risks. How dare I write about life, anyone's life, without taking the opportunities life presents to me to engage. This was a hard one for me to read. I'm the kind of person content to be home, involved in my own world, doing my own thing while life is happening all around me. I'm the person content to read about the lives of others in books. I'm the person who prefers to hear the stories of the party last Friday night than actually being there to experience it myself. However, unless I choose to write a tale about a introverted homebody hermit I'm not developing a repertoire of experiences to use in writing.
Write because it is your passion. Write because the voices in your head won't shut up until you tell their story. Write because you have a story to tell. Write because life has taught you to. But before you write, experience life. Really fully live it. Embrace the experiences you are offered. The magical they say that you regret the things you did not do more than the things you did. Have no regrets!
