write what you know / 4 posts found
Using Real-Life Details to Ground Your Thriller Novel
If you are a writer or even an aspiring writer, you’ve almost certainly heard the phrase, “Write what you know.” And while I’m here to support that phrase, I’d also like to wallop it upside the head so it can stop being misinterpreted and overthought. (10 Myths of Writing About Crime) “Write what you know” is way too freaking broad, and it results in aspiring authors delving into extended detail of specific workplaces or unique life actions that people simply don’t want to read about. I don’t think “write what you know” should apply to your job. Very few readers […]
How Writing What I Knew Shaped My Debut Novel
A piece of my debut novel has been in me my whole life, aching to come out, begging me to find a way. Yet for many years, through many attempts—in poetry, in memoir, in short stories, and beyond—the right story wasn’t there. Until one day it was. Because on that day, I learned to lean into myself. The seed of the project I always knew was based on the story of Ukraine and its people, a story my family knew well. Yet seeds don’t always grow. Writing projects become manuscripts and manuscripts become books with work and dedication to one’s […]
The Story of a Heel: Notes on Memoir and Fiction
When I was in high school in East Germany, a substitute teacher—not our usual boring drone, who had fallen ill—gave us an unusual homework assignment: “Write a story from your life. Let your reader know what happened and how you felt about it. Work on it over the weekend and bring it in on Monday.” (Joel Agee: On Recreating Lost Time) The class erupted into a cacophony of protest: “It’s too hard! We’re not prepared! Does it have to be true?” “It needn’t be true,” the teacher said, “but it should be believable, and it should be a story. I […]
Bring Your Secret Skillsets to the Page
Every person’s life is unique, so why not borrow some of your own eccentricities for your fiction? If “eccentric” is a word you feel you couldn’t ever claim, let me give you another option: Borrow your secret skillsets. Everyone has them. How could yours embolden your storytelling? Whether your goals are to flesh out your protagonist, to intrigue your reader with little known facts sprinkled organically amidst your storyline, or to capture unique character behaviors and non-cliché plot points, leaning into your secret skillsets is one way to ensure you’re writing a story your readers haven’t read hundreds of times […]