Write On!

By Kellie Underhill

You too can improve you’re writing skill.

If last month’s tip was the grand-daddy of all tips, this month — the grand-mammy!

Sheesh! Whadda you know about it?

This is the very foundation from which all writing springs. It’s the first advice many professional writers will give to someone just starting out. It’s also one of the most controversial rules.

Write what you know.

Think about it — a writer who is allergic to dogs, has never owned a dog, doesn’t plan to ever get a dog, and won’t even visit friends because of their dog, probably isn’t the best person to write “how-to-care-for-your-dog” articles for pet lovers magazine.

This isn’t to say the writer couldn’t do it. Yes, the writer could research dog care, learn everything there is to know and then write excellent articles for a pet lovers magazine. In fact, writers who earn their livings as reporters or freelancers constantly learn new subjects and wouldn’t want it any other way. But not everyone has the time to invest in learning from scratch when there are dozens of other subjects the person is better qualified to write.

And for the novice, writing articles can be daunting enough on its own, let alone writing about things outside your realm of knowledge. Why make it any more difficult than it has to be?

If you run a clothing store and you want to generate some buzz about your business by publishing articles in magazines, you’re not going to write an article about auto mechanics for the next issue of Bread ‘n Molasses.

First, an article about how to choose the right auto mechanic isn’t going to generate any buzz for your clothing store. And second, there’s a huge list of topics you’d probably find easier to write about — Second-hand Style, Look Great for Your Senior Prom, What’s Hot this Season, Fashion 101 Style Basics, How to Add Colour to Your Wardrobe, Develop a Signature Style, Accessorize, etc.

There’s little doubt, writing what you know is a great rule of thumb for beginners in non-fiction. The real controversy comes into play when we talk about the rule in conjunction with fiction. There are different trains of thought and much debate on the subject.

Many writers say it simply doesn’t apply to fiction. Some stories take place hundreds of years before the author was even born in places he or she has never been. Writers invent new worlds, cities and creatures that nobody could possibly know anything about because they don’t exist outside the writer’s imagination. How can fiction writers possibly write only what they know?

On the flip side, many writers believe the rule applies to fiction just as well as non-fiction. And I tend to take this broader view. After all, the rule doesn’t say Write What You’ve Personally Experienced.

Substitute the most popular simile for the word “know” and you might know what I mean because the rule then becomes Write What You “Understand.”

Through research and imagination you can understand things you’ve never experienced first-hand. And I believe it’s absolutely necessary to understand the fiction you create in order for it to be of value to others. Understanding doesn’t just apply to time and place but to every aspect of the story including the characters and the plot.

I think the reason why so many beginning writers of fiction need to learn the lesson Write What You Know is because they start at the other end of the spectrum — writing absolutely nothing they know.

I’d go so far as to say many beginning writers deliberately hide what they know. They invent elaborate settings with strange characters in twisted plotlines and as readers we don’t believe them, on some level we know they made it all up. That’s because the writers haven’t been honest with themselves. And probably they aren’t even aware they didn’t write what they knew.

I don’t think it’s a conscious decision. Writing, especially fiction, is one of the most personal and vulnerable exercises anyone can do. It’s really hard to lay it all on the line and put yourself out there for the world to see. And that’s why the novice writer will throw up smokescreens and hide.

Can you blame anyone for being afraid to open up? Of course not, but the result is the reader feels cheated as if the writer is lying and the story doesn’t work.

Good stories start with something you know and understand. Whether it’s an idea, a belief, a concept, a feeling, a character, a place or whatever. Great fiction grows from a tiny seed of personal truth.

So, even when you invent new lands inhabited by strange beings who travel through time, if you want to create memorable stories that connect with others, you need to be true to yourself and honest with your readers. 

Until next month, write on!