Should you be allowed to write stories outside your cultural experience?

and how to unlock creativity when you feel blocked

This week brought in more questions than usual - thank you for that! To keep things fair, I’m answering them in the order they arrived.

If you’ve got a question - something you’ve been wrestling with quietly - send it my way. It might end up here next week.

Send your question

And if that link doesn’t work: Questions@theinsecurescreenwriter.com

I’m writing from beautiful Guadalajara, where the CILECT Congress for film schools is taking place.

We’ve got two fascinating questions this week, and for the first time ever, I’ve brought in a guest to join me in answering one of them.

QUESTION 1

Gareth from Australia

Should I be allowed to write stories outside of my own cultural experience? Should black stories be written by white people? LGBTQI stories written by straight people? Female stories written by men? Did this lead to a lack of authenticity?

This is a doozy!

But thank you so much for asking - it’s an important question, and a tough one.

I’ve thought about this more than once before, so I’ll try to tackle it as clearly and honestly as I can, from my own perspective.

I think the question actually has two parts:

Are you allowed to write stories outside your own cultural experience?

I’d say: allowed, yes - but should you? That’s a harder question to answer. Speaking for myself, I wouldn’t feel right writing, say, a story centered on the Black experience, or a coming-out story that’s fundamentally about being gay. If that’s the core of the story, then someone from that background can almost certainly tell it with more depth and authority than I can.

What about including characters from other backgrounds in your stories?

In my view, absolutely, yes.

This is where the distinction lies for me. If I’m writing, say, an action thriller with an ensemble cast, I want cultural variety. But I can’t have eight co-writers from eight different cultures in the room with me.

So my approach is to write people, not representatives of a culture. Their background may inform who they are, but it doesn’t define their function in the story. When I do that, I’m writing individuals who happen to come from specific backgrounds, rather than trying to depict a culture I haven’t lived.

Later, when casting happens, actors from those backgrounds bring their own experiences and nuances to the roles—that’s part of what makes collaboration so rich.

I’ll admit, when I read scripts where race or culture isn’t specified, I tend to imagine characters like myself, it’s a default bias I have to stay aware of. Which means everyone is white. So I think it’s important, to give some of that detail in character descriptions.

But the goal, always, is to create human beings first, and let culture enrich them naturally.

Thank you again for the question. It’s an important one.

And since we’re on this topic, I reached out to a colleague of mine, Arna Magnea Danks (bio below), who has spoken thoughtfully about this very issue and brings a different background and perspective.

She kindly agreed to be my first guest contributor, and you’ll find her answer below.

Here’s a little about her:

Arna Magnea Danks is an Icelandic actress, fight director, teacher, poet, activist, and mother of three. Trained at East 15 Acting School in London and certified in stage combat by the British Academy of Dramatic Combat, she has appeared in Sense8, Noah, Game of Thrones, and the award-winning Odd Fish (Ljósvíkingar), where she played a dual lead role. Her performance was described as “writing Icelandic history” and earned her Best Performance in a Lead Role at the Kashish Film Festival - an award recognizing a complete and captivating transformation that reminded the jury of the true magic of acting.

Arna’s answer:

Who should be allowed to write LGBTQIA+ stories and BIPOC stories?

This is only my opinion and in no way do I claim to speak for all queer or trans people, just because I am a transgender woman and an actress.

I have received acclamations and awards playing a trans character in the movie Odd Fish, that was written by a straight white man! So in short it would certainly look like my answer would be that anyone could write anything and about anyone they like.

But do it in the way that the writer/director of Odd Fish did so beautifully and well, and I would recommend that all writers do that if they want to write stories of people that are not within their own lived experience, and that is to do the research and take counsel from people that do live the life they want to write about.

So if you want to tell a story about a trans person, then talk to a trans person, preferably more than one, and get their advice about the story and the character(s) that are trans. Get them to read the script over and over and over and use that insight and lived experiences to enrich your story. The same of course applies when you are writing about anyone else that you don’t share a lived understanding of. No matter if they are BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ or autistic, deaf, blind or physically or mentally challenged.

And when it comes to casting those roles, make sure that you have actors that belong in that role. Just as you wouldn’t get a white person to black up, you wouldn’t and shouldn’t get a straight, cisgender person to queer and/or trans up!.

In an ideal world, all actors should be able to play anything, but since that privilege is only reserved for straight, cisgender actors in the film industry around the world today, then roles that depict minorities should always be played by a person that belongs to that minority!

Before we move on to the next question - I wanted to thank Arna again for participating and giving her unique perspective.

QUESTION 2

Jane from India

For one, something that I’d always say is that you can buy hell of a ton with money. You can even buy happiness to an extent. But one thing you cannot pay for is creativity. Example, in this age of ai, it might seem very likable to pay for ai to boost the field of creative art. But it can never match the quality of creativity that only humans have to offer. Breathing living humans who have emotions and even then creativity depends uniquely upon every individual.

And lately, i have been struggling with ideas. My creativity feels blocked. And i think as writers, definitely everyone faces it sometimes. So i was wondering how i can unlock the creativity within me and explore. More so when I’m in a pressured and stressful situation with my other fields of activities. Thank you!

Hi Jane,

I think A.I. can be great for the boring, mechanical stuff , organizing notes, checking grammar, summarizing things. But when it comes to actual creativity, I find it awful. It can imitate, remix, and assist but that spark of originality, that moment where something truly connects - that still has to come from you.

So how do you unlock creativity?

The first step, I think, is accepting that it’s not a switch you can flip. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not, and that’s completely normal. The real blockage usually comes from thinking about it too much, worrying that you’ve lost it, or that what you make won’t be good enough.

But creativity doesn’t vanish; it just gets buried under pressure, deadlines, and self-doubt. It’s already there - you just have to clear the path.

I like to think of creativity as a muscle. You have to train it, like going to the gym. The more often you show up, the easier it gets. You don’t need to create a masterpiece every day - in fact, it’s better if you don’t try to. Some days it’s ten minutes, some days it’s two hours. The point is consistency, not brilliance.

Even on days when I feel completely empty, I remind myself: this is my job (or for you, maybe your passion), so I start anyway. Usually, within a few minutes, that creative rhythm starts to come back. That’s why I use my Kickstart, it’s just a way to begin, no pressure, no expectations.

If life is busy - work, family, responsibilities - that might mean ten quiet minutes after everyone’s asleep. That’s still enough. The brain just needs to remember how to play again.

A few tricks that always help me:

1. Come up with at least three ideas instead of one. It removes the pressure for any single idea to be brilliant.

2. Give yourself permission to make something bad. Say to yourself, “Here’s the bad version.” It’s amazing how often that leads to something good.

3. Stay curious. Read, listen, observe - even when you’re not “working.” Creativity loves cross-pollination; it often sneaks up when your guard is down.

In the end, it’s not about inspiration striking. It’s about showing up, starting anyway, and trusting that creativity will meet you halfway once you do.

Good luck

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Remember there are no stupid questions - it could be about story structure, dialogue, breaking in, or even overcoming writer’s block. Whatever’s on your mind, send it along.

Send your question

And if that link doesn’t work: Questions@theinsecurescreenwriter.com

Happy writing.