Write What You Know -- Or What You Can Research
by Marsha Ward
From the time I first studied creative writing, I've been
told to write what I know. You have, too. What does that mean?
First, let me give you some of my background. For several
years, I wrote feature and news stories for a series of small newspapers. I
wrote hundreds of articles on a wide variety of subjects and people, but I knew
little to nothing about those things or those people before I was assigned to
write about them. The experience I gained during those years taught me about
doing research, and finding out what you don’t know about from your own life
experiences
Now I concentrate on writing novels set in the 19th Century.
Did I live in the 19th Century? No. Does that mean I've broken that paramount
rule of writing what I know?
Again, no. How’s that, you may ask? Here's the explanation:
Writing students of school age are advised to write what they know because they
haven't lived very long. They only know what they have experienced first hand,
so that is all they can call upon. Writing students with more years of life
behind them are also advised to write what they know, but there is the unspoken
understanding that this includes what they can find out about through research,
as well as the life experiences they have as background.
I had to interview, investigate, study and research my news
subjects. That made me an "expert," at least for the moment, on that
topic or person. I knew what I was writing about.
Similarly, although I didn't live through the tumultuous
events of the 19th Century, I did read 150 books for research before I wrote my
novel, The Man from Shenandoah. Now my
readers ask if I was raised on a farm, because my knowledge of the tools and
procedures seems to be so intimate. Research made me an "expert" on
the things I neeced to know to write the book. I'm not as sure what to say
about the readers who congratulate me on my ability to get inside the mind of
my male characters. Maybe being a tomboy in my childhood and youth helped me
"know" what to write in that area!
In my newest novel, Spinster’s Folly, I wrote about abuse and manipulative behavior. Some
of that I knew intimately from an experience our family had in years past.
However, I still had to brush up on those topics, as well as doing heavy
research on experiences my characters would encounter in the course of the
story, like how to play poker. After my online research (hurray for the
Internet!), and picking the minds of friends with poker knowledge, I went so far
as to buy several books, including one on how to cheat at poker!
My next novel goes back in time from where I’ve set my first
four Owen Family Saga books. This one will explore Rulon Owen’s life as an
infantryman during the War Against Northern Aggression, as it was known in the
Confederate States of America. That’s the American Civil War to you Yankees. I
have acquired a knee-high stack of reference books on the topic, as well as
documentary videos and several notebooks filled with my gleanings from Civil
War sites online. Because many fans of those time are, well, fanatics, I have
to get my facts right!
You do what you have to do to get the facts right and tell a
good tale. The next time someone tells you to "write what you know,"
take the counsel with a grain of salt, remembering that unspoken addition to
the suggestion: "...or what you can find out about!"
More about Marsha Ward : Marsha Ward was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and currently
lives in a pine forest in central Arizona. Marsha is an award-winning poet,
freelance writer and editor whose published work includes four novels, two
collaborative non-fiction books on writing, a collection of prose and poetry,
and over 900 articles, columns, poems and short stories. Her novels, The Man
from Shenandoah, Ride to Raton, Trail of Storms, and Spinster’s Folly have
received rave reviews from both readers and reviewers.
Visit Marsha's author pages at Smashwords and
Amazon:
Or learn more about Marsha and her books at the following links:
Website: http://marshaward.com
Author Blog: http://marshaward.blogspot.com
Character Blog: http://charactersinmarshashead.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarshaWard
