Write What You Know

It’s no secret that when a writer is bitten by the fiction bug they experience a jolt of excitement in finding their passion. There is, however, for some of those writers, a nasty toxin that lingers in their systems, sometimes for life. What effects does this toxin have on unsuspecting writers? One particularly nasty effect gets them to lock into writing guidelines and consider them hard, carved-in-stone rules from which they must never deviate.

Most of these so-called rules are easy to dismiss, bend, break or ignore. Though, there is one that puts up a tougher fight. On many occasions I’ve heard and read that writers should write what they know. I’ve fielded that question a few times at conventions or in writing groups and every time I get stuck in the same sparring match – how can I write about murder or flying an airplane or driving a racecar when I’ve never murdered anyone, flown a plane or even gotten a speeding ticket?

The fiction writing bug does a great job because its venom gets the writer to take this suggestion literally. One has to look at the broader meaning.

Consider this, a scene has many elements and one of them is emotion (or lack of it). When we talk about writing what we know, we talk about making a connection with something emotionally, something close enough to the action you’re writing about to give it realism.

I’ve never flown a plane, but I can ask a pilot about the mechanics of flying a plane or I can try a flight simulator to get a handle on the procedures of piloting an aircraft. What I lose is the emotional connection to flying a plane. By all means ask a pilot what it feels like to fly a plane and use that but go one step further and write what you know.

Here’s what I know about flying a plane. I’ve been in the cockpit of one in flight, I’ve also been at the open door of a plane several thousand feet in the air, while the plane was banking. I’ve flown on commercial airlines and felt severe turbulence. I’ve flown through fog so thick that I spotted the runway just as the wheels touched down. I’ve been on a plane that lost altitude and quickly recovered. I’ve flown at night and day, above, below and through the clouds. I’ve been on a plane during a heavy storm. I’m sure I could come up with more.

I must consider what the scene entails. Let’s say the pilot has a killer flying after him in another plane and he’s trying to lose him. I can not only use what I know of being on and around planes and the interview with a real pilot but also anything that will bring me the emotions that go with…flying fast, erratically, banking and rolling. I can draw from my experience of being on a rollercoaster that flipped upside-down. I can use my experiences watching movies at the Ontario Place Theatre. There was a film that showed a bird’s eye perspective of flying over all kinds of terrain and you felt just like you were the bird (my stomach flipped a few times as I recall).

What you might find is that your scene is likely to change when you apply write what you know. It will get better and feel far more real to you which translates to a much more fulfilling read for your audience.

There are going to be scenes where you’ll have to stretch your imagination to apply write what you know. Let’s take murder for example. No, I’ve never murdered anyone and I’ve never even wanted to. I’ve been angry and upset at people, but murder never crossed my mind. So, what then? How do you apply writing what you know in this situation?

Since you’re writing in the realm of fiction then I know you’re a creative person and that is what you’ll have to tap to make the emotional connection work. You’ll have to be very specific to your character’s needs and wants and their reasons for committing such a heinous crime. Once you’re clear on all that, ask yourself what that experience may be like for your character? What are they feeling? If it’s anger that drives them to kill, think of the most angry you’ve ever been and connect your character to those emotions.

This is where you’ll be happy that writing is a solitary affair; you wouldn’t want to openly share these emotional moments with people since they are so personal – I know I’d never share them. You’re not writing about the event that made you feel a certain way, you’re focusing on the feelings that were a result of the event. Did your body shake? What did it feel like? Were you sweating, breathing hard, or outwardly completely in control and your mind reeling? Fists clenched or hands wrung together? Think about that time and write what you know.

Now go write something – that you know.

Games Have Rules, Writing Has Guidelines

There are far more rules governing writing than there are governing golf. Grammar and spelling are lifelong pursuits for any writer and are made all the more manageable with desktop companions like a good dictionary, The Elements of Style, The Chicago Manual of Style and a host of others. Where rules should be considered guidelines is in the crafting of a story.

So many new writers see the word ‘rules’ and immediately adhere to them without question. This can be a dangerous thing considering that if every writer stayed true to these so-called ‘rules’ then fiction would be unbearably formulaic. I took it upon myself to research the ‘rules’ for writing a mystery. I’ve written a mystery/thriller to be released in November, so, I just wanted to see how close I came to staying inside the lines.

These are in no particular order and I have not listed all of the rules I found, only some of them.

*Plot is everything.

*The hero must be male.

*Introduce the detective and the culprit early on.

*The setting will be Los Angeles.

*Introduce the crime in the first three chapters.

*The crime should be sufficiently violent, preferably a murder. Or, it must be a murder mystery.

*The crime should be believable.

*Some violence is required.

*Certain Violence is prohibited.

*Write in first person.

*The hero cannot be the culprit.

*The culprit must be capable of committing the crime.

*Don't try to fool your reader.

*Use only two-character scenes.

*Authenticity is required.

*Do your research.

*Wait as long as possible to reveal the culprit.

*The reader should have the same opportunity as the Hero to solve the crime.

*No tricks can be played to mislead the reader unless it is also done to the Hero by the criminal.

*The Hero should not have a love interest.

*Neither the Hero nor one of the official investigators can turn out to be the criminal.

*The villain must be found by logical deduction, not luck, accident, or un-motivated confessions. Or, the solution must come by 'naturalistic means'. Or, the detective should solve the case using only rational and scientific methods.

*There can be only one hero, not a team.

*The villain has to be someone who plays a prominent part of the story. After all, he/she is at least as important as the hero, right?

*The culprit can't be a servant.

What an interesting list of rules. Should one take these as gospel then we would never have had great stories from authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (no teams – poor Watson), Ian Rankin (write only in first person – poor Ian and his bestsellers, I’ve lost count), and Sue Grafton (the hero must be male – how dare she write a female protagonist) just to name a few.

I certainly don’t want to walk through each item on this list, but I do want to talk about why we should view any ‘rule’ of writing as a guideline. Consider these ‘rules’ carefully before you decide how stringently you want to follow them. I’ve broken my fair share, thank goodness.

For instance, the first on the list – plot is everything. Let’s be honest, when it comes to mysteries the plot is extremely important. However, a killer plot with flat, lifeless, uninteresting characters would have readers, well, not reading. The plot drives the story but the character is what keeps the reader engaged. They see the mystery by way of the protagonist and not only root for them, they work with them. Give the reader a character to pull for, and you’ve got the reader hooked. As important as plot is, never forget the importance of your protagonist. It’s all about balance.

There are a few items on the list that I suggest you ignore; the hero must be male, the setting must be Los Angeles, write in first person, no teams. I’m sure readers will strike a few off the list right away considering personal taste, attitudes, and the work they’ve read by published authors. But, let’s not be too hasty about killing them all.

Many of these ‘rules’ come down to common sense when writing. Introducing your hero, culprit and crime early in the novel makes sense. If the crime takes place in the middle of the book you’d better have some entertainment planned to keep the reader around. Doing research and keeping it as real as possible make sense as well. If by the culprit can’t be a servant they mean that the butler can’t do it, then yeah, steer clear of that cliché. I’m sure you’ll find more.

There are those items on the list that when handled carefully and respectfully, can be bent or outright broken. I’m referring to the use of violence. Many writers believe that certain areas of violence should never be touched on such as cruelty to animals, rape, and child molestation. I believe that if handled correctly, any of these areas can be used. Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones would not exist if she didn’t venture into this territory. Her protagonist is a young girl who was raped and murdered. It has been called a masterpiece of writing yet, those who would follow these ‘rules’ would staunchly disagree.

J.K. Rowling answered her critics regarding the omission of Dumbledore’s sexual preference by stating that it wasn’t necessary to the story. And, it wasn’t. Nowhere in the series of seven books would the mention of his sexual preference further the story or give the reader more clues to who he was. One should consider the same thing when writing about violence. Ask yourself if it is necessary and if it can happen off the page. Often it is the aftermath to an event that is the necessity showing the personality and mental state of the characters.

Whatever genre you write, be aware of the rules, learn them, try them, then do what is best for your story.

It seems my mystery/thriller, Endo, is colouring outside the lines.