This is going to seem super obvious, but I’m of the impression that, generally, those with the most compelling stories to tell are either unwilling or unable to give voice to their experiences.
There’s something inherently pompous about writing, because in writing, you’re basically telling the reader, “Hey, over here. Listen to me! Me me me! What I have to say is important.” If you’re an upper middle class white person, that borders on the offensive. Just because you’re educated, just because you can write, doesn’t mean your experiences are necessarily worth sharing. Particularly if, in the process of shouting from the rooftops, you’re drowning out other, quieter, possibly less articulate voices.
It comes down to something fundamental, which I think gets at the heart of why modern journalism is in such a foul state: “Those who should write, don’t. Those who can write, shouldn’t.”
By ‘those who should write’, I mean those people who have the first-hand experiences that wow, shock, appal, and inspire. These people will often tell you that, well, they just never considered their experiences worth sharing. Or else that they’re ‘not writers’.
In researching a piece on international students, I found that a huge number of the Chinese and Indian students I spoke to had stories worth sharing. I asked one student whether he’d ever consider writing about his experiences for the magazine. “Oh no,” he told me, laughing. “I couldn’t do that. Writing’s scary.” And yet, he felt entirely comfortable chatting with me for a good half hour. In the typed-up transcript of the interview, he came across as fluent, engaging, funny, and persuasive.
I think this places a great deal of responsibility on capital-W ‘Writers’ to avoid focussing on their own stories at the expense of others’. Those who are lucky enough to be able to write for a living (or, at least, are lucky enough to be in the position of being read) should make it their aim to tell the stories of those who should be writing, but don’t or can’t. Don’t use your position as a writer to drown out other less ‘polished’ voices. That’s douchey.
Say what you will about Dave Eggers, but I think he gets it.