In the introduction to the latest volume in the Best American Short Stories series, guest editor Geraldine Brooks, author of the National Book Award-winning novel March, makes an interesting point about the stories she read as she was trying to select the ones that would ultimately end up in the book. She lamented the fact that she read very few about the war in Afghanistan.
"There's a war on. The war in Afghanistan, in the year it became America's longest, appeared as a brief aside in only two of one hundred and twenty stories."
As a writer, I read this with a bit of irritation. Informing writers that perhaps they could have made it into the volume if they wrote more political or topical stories seemed to me to be out of line. There's nothing wrong with asking a writer to think out of the box, but this seemed more like an agenda. And though most people who make a career in the arts find talking about money distasteful, it seemed worth mentioning that while Miss Brooks might like to read more about the war in Afghanistan, it doesn't seem like many Americans share that sentiment.
Going back to her request a few weeks later, I'm a bit more calm. I can understand how someone might be frustrated that a major current event is going on and America's storytellers don't seem to be compelled to write about it. I often feel the same way when the arts fail to address an issue that's important to me.
I started to ask myself why I've never written anything that deals with war--not even as an exercise or to see what I would come up with if I tried.
Ultimately, I decided that the reason I don't write about war is because I'm afraid of misrepresenting someone else's personal experience.
I've never fought in a war, or even had a relative fight or serve in any way. I have no personal experience to draw from, and the old adage "write what you know" pops up in my head every time I sit down in front of a blank computer screen. Yes, I do believe that there's a certain element of imagination here that should come into play, but to be honest, the horrors of war isn't something even the deepest parts of my imagination seem willing to investigate. Maybe that makes me a bad artist, who knows? I suppose I could research what war is like--interview soldiers, read endless articles, watch the news, etc.
And yet I don't.
Why is that?
I suppose there's no way of bringing up this issue without mentioning the date that's impacted all of our lives. I was seventeen-years-old on September 11th, and I remember it vividly as do many Americans. Since then, I feel like I've been bombarded by the media regarding opinions and arguments, fiction and non-fiction, stories of war and healing from war, ever since that day ten years ago. Although I've consumed a lot of that media, and although I've admired some of the work, it's never inspired me to create my own "perspective" on the Afghanistan War. Even referring to it that way feels somewhat disrespectful to me. It seems pretentious and self-involved. It makes me feel like the little rich white kid who can leisurely make up a story about a soldier fighting for his country or a P.O.W. returning from war while I sit in the luxurious confines of my living room, typing away on my laptop. Yes, all writing is, to some degree, egotistical, but trivializing something like that, or worse, creating an inaccurate portrait, is enough to keep me writing about things that are familiar to me.
I'm surprised it didn't occur to Miss Brooks that this generation of writers might have just had their minds overloaded with stories of war. In my case, I'm not sure what I can say that someone else hasn't already said, especially with no personal experience to draw from. I'm not ignorant of the fact that there's a war going on, but I use my writing as a way to try and uplift people. I don't strive to be political or topical, just to create effective and evocative writing. I admire those who can do that and make a statement or send a message, but to insinuate that those of us who don't are somehow missing a bigger point seems wrong. As a writer, I'm always thinking about the ending, and we haven't reached the end of this war yet. Maybe that's why when I try to write about it, I feel overwhelmed. How can you begin to try and capture something that changes everyday? Maybe one day I will be able to write about it, but for now, I feel ill-equipped.
Part of me wonders why Miss Brooks doesn't ask the people who are actually fighting the war to write about it.
I believe those are the stories we really need to hear.
"There's a war on. The war in Afghanistan, in the year it became America's longest, appeared as a brief aside in only two of one hundred and twenty stories."
As a writer, I read this with a bit of irritation. Informing writers that perhaps they could have made it into the volume if they wrote more political or topical stories seemed to me to be out of line. There's nothing wrong with asking a writer to think out of the box, but this seemed more like an agenda. And though most people who make a career in the arts find talking about money distasteful, it seemed worth mentioning that while Miss Brooks might like to read more about the war in Afghanistan, it doesn't seem like many Americans share that sentiment.
Going back to her request a few weeks later, I'm a bit more calm. I can understand how someone might be frustrated that a major current event is going on and America's storytellers don't seem to be compelled to write about it. I often feel the same way when the arts fail to address an issue that's important to me.
I started to ask myself why I've never written anything that deals with war--not even as an exercise or to see what I would come up with if I tried.
Ultimately, I decided that the reason I don't write about war is because I'm afraid of misrepresenting someone else's personal experience.
I've never fought in a war, or even had a relative fight or serve in any way. I have no personal experience to draw from, and the old adage "write what you know" pops up in my head every time I sit down in front of a blank computer screen. Yes, I do believe that there's a certain element of imagination here that should come into play, but to be honest, the horrors of war isn't something even the deepest parts of my imagination seem willing to investigate. Maybe that makes me a bad artist, who knows? I suppose I could research what war is like--interview soldiers, read endless articles, watch the news, etc.
And yet I don't.
Why is that?
I suppose there's no way of bringing up this issue without mentioning the date that's impacted all of our lives. I was seventeen-years-old on September 11th, and I remember it vividly as do many Americans. Since then, I feel like I've been bombarded by the media regarding opinions and arguments, fiction and non-fiction, stories of war and healing from war, ever since that day ten years ago. Although I've consumed a lot of that media, and although I've admired some of the work, it's never inspired me to create my own "perspective" on the Afghanistan War. Even referring to it that way feels somewhat disrespectful to me. It seems pretentious and self-involved. It makes me feel like the little rich white kid who can leisurely make up a story about a soldier fighting for his country or a P.O.W. returning from war while I sit in the luxurious confines of my living room, typing away on my laptop. Yes, all writing is, to some degree, egotistical, but trivializing something like that, or worse, creating an inaccurate portrait, is enough to keep me writing about things that are familiar to me.
I'm surprised it didn't occur to Miss Brooks that this generation of writers might have just had their minds overloaded with stories of war. In my case, I'm not sure what I can say that someone else hasn't already said, especially with no personal experience to draw from. I'm not ignorant of the fact that there's a war going on, but I use my writing as a way to try and uplift people. I don't strive to be political or topical, just to create effective and evocative writing. I admire those who can do that and make a statement or send a message, but to insinuate that those of us who don't are somehow missing a bigger point seems wrong. As a writer, I'm always thinking about the ending, and we haven't reached the end of this war yet. Maybe that's why when I try to write about it, I feel overwhelmed. How can you begin to try and capture something that changes everyday? Maybe one day I will be able to write about it, but for now, I feel ill-equipped.
Part of me wonders why Miss Brooks doesn't ask the people who are actually fighting the war to write about it.
I believe those are the stories we really need to hear.
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