Do you need to have lived it to write it?

This is the premise of the most recent post on the Magma blog. I was pleased to read the comments coming in on this topic because I have been wondering myself whether you can achieve true authenticity in writing if you haven't had the experience yourself. I left this comment:

Increasingly I find myself writing about things beyond my experience. I was suspicious of trying but found that actually, it is possible when you embed yourself in imagination. I think if you can conjure a strong empathy for people and situation then you are capable of writing authentically. I also research details to add to the authenticity. A little bit of real detail goes a long way. I can read anything if the voice is authentic. Sometimes the story/experience may well be true but I disengage because the voice lacks a humanity and therefore falls short of real authenticity. But of course this is just personal taste.

You can also draw on similar experience or emotion to write about something you haven’t experienced. e.g. death of a parent to write about death of a friend. Experience is often on a sliding scale and no one is surely so fully removed from anything in this day and age of embedded journalism and an invasive media, that they can’t find a way to the truth of a subject without having been at the very crux of the experience.

When it came to it, I realised I had made up my mind, and you can write what you haven't lived. I was interested to read the other comments posted so far, including one about attracting criticism. I think this is an inevitable part of the writing process, and can only help improve the writing. If you're not accurate with your detail then it's only right it should be pointed out. Hopefully from that point you can improve. Criticism will come either way. Besides would writing not eventually become stale if you don't strive to reach beyond the limits of your own imagination?

Tarn

I wanted to take the opportunity of a long walk in the Lake District last weekend to get some inspiration for new writing, that I can use for the first MA workshop. I have been mulling over what my strengths and weaknesses are in writing, and it's scared me off of using old work in front of a group of strangers who don't know me or anything about my interests. But then I don't want to play it safe either.

So I wanted to aim for something that was representative of my writing style and of my academic background. Poetry about geology can get a bit tired, but I thought I would give it a punt, perhaps thinking that I may have a right to this topic after spending years studying it. What I ended up with was not a geology poem at all, just a poem about a body of water in transition. I may well use this for the first seminar.

C G Jelly Friskers: One Year On

We first met at a creative writing evening class one year ago. All of us beginners. Now, one year on we've formed our own group (out-growing the evening class), had work published, produced lots of poems, 2 and a half novels (approximately) and most importantly, had our first big social!

We have changed our venues a couple of times (Carnforth High School, RSPB Leighton Moss) but now seem to be settled on The Silverdale Hotel. We meet every two weeks and take it in turns to lead the group with different writing exercises, assignment of 'homework' and generally keeping order.

One year on we decided it would be nice to celebrate our year together - agreeing that the chances of meeting a group where everyone gets on so well and has such different styles with lots to offer, was too good to just go unmarked! On the day we had lots of food and read a selection of our favourite writing (things we were proudest of or showed the most progress) and we also listened to Karl's excellent songwriting/playing/singing skills! We also wrote ghost stories for the evening.

All in all it was a brilliant day and a really good opportunity to think back, and forward about where writing will take us next. We're now thinking of putting together our own anthology and thinking more seriously about getting our writing out there in its various forms.