5 Problems Within the Own Voices Campaign (And How to Fix Them)

Own voices stories. What does that mean? In short, it's a term used to describe when people write stories that feature characters who share the same identity as the writer. For example: A Syrian refugee writing a story about Syrian refugees. A disabled author writing a disabled main character. A hispanic author writing a hispanic character. A Sikh author writing a character of the Sikh religion.

It is a concept meant to give an accurate voice to underrepresented groups. With so many groups of people being misrepresented or not represented at all, the Own Voices campaign is designed to encourage and boost authors who want to share stories closely connected to their identities.

Sounds awesome, right?

It is.

However.

Yes. There's a "however." I wish there wasn't, but there is.

The Own Voices campaign has sprouted some problematic concepts that are harmful to the writing community and the underrepresented groups it was designed to promote. These issues include gatekeeping, unintentional stunting of creativity and compassion, and the unfortunate propagation of "othering."
Now, before we begin I'd also like to point out that the issues mentioned below were not originally built into Own Voices. It began as a cool hashtag that would allow readers to find books by authors who write powerful, representative Own Voice stories. Which is great. I'm not criticizing this idea. In fact, I completely support it. This post is simply taking issue with the way that it's gone in a tail-spin since then.

Got it? Okay. Here we go:

1. It shuts down representation. This realization hit me full-force during an online writing conference. A physically-abled author asked a panel of "diversity" authors if they thought it was okay for her to write a main character who is disabled, or if she should just stick to what she "knows." As somebody with Lyme disease who's constantly frustrated by the lack of disabled main characters in fiction, I placed my cup of tea down and leaned forward, excited that a fellow author was wanting to come alongside me and help fix this problem. And then the panelists spoke with resounding, "No." Do not write a disabled character if you are not disabled. This was not the first (nor was it the last) time I'd heard this, but it still broke my heart. Here was a writer who wanted to help represent an underrepresented group and she was being told by industry authorities that she shouldn't.

Readers wonder why we have so few books that showcase marginalized people. This is one of the reasons. Writers are being told to "stay in their lane." To only write stories and characters that they know about from first-hand experience (because apparently having family, friends, and coworkers and traveling and reading and thinking for oneself aren't good enough anymore). This shuts down the opportunity to have good conversations, produce good stories, and widen the pool of books that represent the world and all of the people that live in it. Why has this shutting down taken place? Well, partly because...

2. It assumes that writers are not capable of writing a story about somebody who is different from themselves. So often I see non Own Voices authors told not to write certain characters or stories. After all, if you aren't of a specific underrepresented group, you cannot possibly have the level of understanding or skill required to write about them well. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. While we live in a culture that tries to tell us that some groups are so different from us that we cannot possibly understand them, this is simply untrue. We are all human beings and we can come alongside each other and learn from one another.

For example: What's it like to be a refugee? I am not a refugee so I will never understand what that's like on the same level that an actual refugee can. HOWEVER, I can ask questions of people who are willing to help me understand. I can read books. I can do my research. Just like you, as an abled person, can do the same when it comes to writing a disabled character. No, the story won't be the same as an Own Voices story, but that's okay. It doesn't have to be. It just has to be good. All it takes is humility, time, kindness, and hard work....All skills that every writers would benefit from no matter what story we're attempting to write.

As writers, we owe it to ourselves and our readers to work hard to understand our characters and stories. And, beyond that, we need to work hard to cultivate our writing skills so that we can write our characters well. To assume that writers are not capable of doing this is nonsensical and narrow minded.

3. It is policing who can write what stories. You're Indian and you're not writing a story about an Indian character? You must not care about representation. You're a Muslim writing an Own Voices story, but one of the side characters is Christian? Take that character out because clearly you aren't an authority on Christianity. You're a neurotypical author writing a character with Asperger syndrome? You can't do that because you don't have Asperger's.

I've seen so many of these types of comments and, honestly, all of them are absurd. What gives us the right to decide who should and shouldn't write what type of story? Nobody is obligated to write Own Voices. And no non Own Voices author is obligated to stay way from certain characters or plots. We're writers. We write stories. That's it.

4. It needs to expand to deal with a larger problem: Publishers. I've heard this mentioned a lot: non Own Voices shouldn't attempt to write about underrepresented groups because, if they get published, they are taking that publication opportunity away from an Own Voices writers.  This is operating out of the assumption that publishers only publish a specific number of "diverse" stories. Sadly, this is an accurate assumption. However, the solution is a poor one. Because few diverse books are published, writers should write less diverse books...? What?
Representation, whether it takes the form of Own Voice or non Own Voice authors, is important. We cannot cater to publishing houses and their propensity to overlook entire groups of people when publishing fiction. Instead, we as writers need to be telling stories that are reflective of the real world: Stories about characters of all identities. And we as readers need to be actively requesting that publishers do a better job of publishing said stories.

5. It doesn't understand that all voices and perspectives are different. There's this weird assumption that, because you belong to a certain group, you must be an authority on all things within this group. Errrr. What? This puts an enormous and unwarranted amount of pressure on the shoulders of Own Voices authors. Why? Because everyone has different experiences. For instance, my experience with Lyme disease is different from both of my parents and my younger brother. Just because you belong to a group of people doesn't mean that you all think the same way, act the same way, or write the same way. Yes, you'll share similar experiences, but not identical. And you definitely won't write about it from an identical angle. Nor should you be expected to.

With this being the case, why block non Own Voices authors from writing about underrepresented groups? Yeah, it'll be different from an Own Voices story. But that's okay. Every single story has a different voice, style, and perspective. That's what makes writing so amazing.

I know that we writers can do better than this. Own Voices stories are an awesome idea and the campaign is one that has a lot of potential. Let's not ruin it by pitting writers against each other.

Okay. I think we're done here.

Now let's open up the comment section! What are your favorite and least favorite things about the Own Voices campaign? How do you think it can be improved? What are some of your favorite Own Voices stories?

As always, please leave any and all thoughts below. Just be respectful, thoughtful, and kind. I look forward to hearing from you!

Have writing, reading, or writer's life questions? Use the hashtag #ChatWithHannah below or on social media to have them answered on my Youtube channel!
Related articles:
9 Tips for Writing Physically Disabled Characters in Fantasy
"Write What You Know:" What This Advice Means And How to Apply it
4 Fundamental Errors in the Diverse Books Campaign (And How to Fix Them)

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