> On the one hand, writers should write what they know. They shouldn't try to assume they know some minority's lived experiences. To be a bit cynical, here's

> On the one hand, writers should write what they know. They shouldn't try to assume they know some minority's lived experiences. To be a bit cynical, here's a quote from Goethe: > No one has ever properly understood me, I have never fully understood anyone; and no one understands anyone else Just because you're the same ethnicity/gender/whatever as someone else, does it mean you're "entitled" to claim you understand them? Or is it just some assumption that you can only write from experience and everything else should be disregarded? Many great works of literature contain a large breadth of characters coming from different environments, classes, genders etc. - should they be discounted automatically because the author could not have been "authentic" when writing them?