Write Where You Know

You often hear that old chestnut, “Write what you know.” This doesn’t mean you have to be an actual space cadet, vampire, or serial killer, to write about such characters, but you have to be at least familiar with the genre, or better yet, an interest and well-read on the topic. I’m going to take a look at something else in this essay, the setting.

To help bring your story to life, when in doubt, make use of a setting you are familiar with. Something as simple as the Comic Con you recently attended can provide a setting for any number of types of tales: fantasy, murder mystery, sci-fi, romance. Aliens can be encountered anywhere. Did you ever spend time at a lake in a summer cottage? Remember those dark nights with the wind stirring the trees? What is that scratching at the window? How many times have you been to a shopping mall or a zoo? Ever wondered about finding elves lurking in the food court or conversing with the llamas?

Then there is the dreaded research, especially on eras or locations you may be interested in writing about, but not personally familiar with. I’m not fond of research, one reason I make a lot of things up and write fantasy. Yet, when I decided to write an alternate history I made the effort. Fortunately I had a personal interest and some background in a few of the elements I was exploring. The result was the Toltec Trilogy.

We’ve all been somewhere at some time, even if it is only your own bedroom, staring at a closet door that refuses to stay closed. As you travel, or read about far-away places, you can expand the locations you might use to raise up your tales. The more you experience, visit, read, view, the wider the range of your possible settings. The only limits are those created by your own imagination.