Talk:Experience

Regarding the idea that writers must have experienced something to write about it effectivly is a common misconception. The best example to refute this notion involves Stephen Crane who wrote The Red Badge of Courage, one of the finest war stories ever written. When visiting the Gettysburg Battlefield sometime after the Civil War he was heard to remark "Ah, so this is what one of these looks like". In fact Stephen Crane was born well after the Civil War ended and never had any combat experience, but was nevertheless produce a story known for its realism. Of course the other popular example of a man not writing about his own direct experiences is The Bard himself, Shakespeare. However the contrary idea is so ingrained that countless scholars have bent over backwards to prove that either Shakespeare went to places like Venice or didn't actually write the plays that bare his name. Today this idea that people can only write what they know is highly destructive when it comes to pigeon holing writers so that only the young can write for the young, women for women, men for men or minority for other minorities. The truth is that the same spark of creativity that allows writers to create allows them to simulate in their own minds what different experiences might be like even without first hand knowledge.Sturmovik (talk) 22:20, 1 November 2013 (CDT)