You're supposed to write about what you know. Or at least that's what they say. I'm not even sure where that old adage comes from, if it's a quote from some great author or just an observation by someone once upon a time. But still, that's what you're supposed to do.
Only I don't.
Sure, I try. It's easy to be given a topic and to rattle off words about what I think I know about it. But sometimes I stop my writing and realize... I don't know anything. I don't have any real life experience.
I've never fallen in love and been loved in return. I've only left the country once (twice, if you count Canada, but I barely do). I've never been in a life-threatening experience or witnessed something that changed my mindset or found hope through religion. Hell, I don't like parties or meeting most new people or even stepping out of my comfort zone. When it comes down to it, everything I "know" I've learned from someone else. Characters live for me- in movies and novels and plays. They make mistakes that I won't have to, make me think of how I would react to situations I'll never be put into, and becoming more emotionally attached to certain fictional people than I am to many I know in real life. Through the characters I learn and experience and understand.
Sometimes I question whether this is a cowardly way to live or if it's somehow far more enriching than my middle class suburban life will ever be. Either way I'll probably never stop. I'll keep using them, and writing as though I know the things they know.
And, in a way, don't I?
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