Humor Quote by Robyn Parnell
““Write what you know," my ass. Now, I'm not suggesting that you write about my ass. But although you do not, in fact, know my ass, I give you permission to write about it. And if you think you need my permission to write about my ass ("What right do I have, as a male, twenty-something, single, childfree, immigrant Indonesian Buddhist, to pretend to understand the ass of an Anglo American middle-aged married female Freethinker?") or about anything, then you lack the courage, curiosity and imagination to write good fiction, so please find something else to do.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: Podcast discussion on writing craft, 2023
The quote challenges the notion that writers must only write from personal experience, urging them to embrace empathy, curiosity, and imagination to inhabit perspectives beyond their own.
In simple terms: Write beyond personal experience using empathy and imagination.
Key Takeaway
Write with courage to explore unfamiliar viewpoints.
Themes
creativity
empathy
courage
identity
fiction writing
Mood
provocative
reflective
inspirational
Type
advice
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- Writing workshops
- novel development
- character research
- cross‑cultural storytelling
Key Concepts
Perspective taking
imaginary empathy
cultural imagination
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you responsibly inhabit a viewpoint far from your own?
- What practices deepen authentic empathy in fiction?
A Different Perspective
May risk misrepresentation if empathy is shallow or stereotypes dominate.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
