“Write what you know” means “write the truth”

cj Sez:  Writers are always looking for the magic formulas and rules to maketheir writing struggles easier. Eight rules on this, ten tips on that, three onthe other. There are two rules that top them all:

 My take is, themore I familiarize myself with the different philosophies and “rules” of the variouswriting worlds (journalism, creative, non-fiction, et al.), the better I amable to write the truth about my characters, their personalities, and theirworlds to make them authentic.

 

   In a way, I amworld-building for my novel.

 

   Granted it's easierto write “what you know”—i.e. the truth—when we write about the people andplaces we know best. In my Death on theYampa novel, the setting is Dinosaur National Monument and the Yampa Riverthat runs through it. And yes, I once did a five-day white-water rafting tripthere. Even with that familiarity, I had to do more research to make sure I hadthe dialogue and sites correct. (Memories are notoriously faulty.)

   The followingexcerpt is from regional writer Judy Alter who specializes in her familiaritywith Texas.
. . . “setting a bookin a particular region (doesn’t) make a writer regional. It’s essential thatthe author absorb the setting so that rather than obviously telling, suchthings as geography, culture, food, and manners flow naturally. Otherwise, thebackground looks like those fake sets in so many grade B westerns.” 

 

   I’ll take JudyAlter’s advice one step further: Regions are made up of cities and people, andto write the truth about a city and its characters means the writer also needsto absorb the city setting and its language. That’s why Elmore Leonard’s booksare so Detroit-authentic.

   I could neverconsider myself a regional writer, though not by choice, but by happenstance. Bornin Texas and raised in Michigan, I currently live on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. (Iguess I could do a decent job of characterizations and syntax of Detroiters.) Asa native Texan, I do populate almost every story with a character from Texas,and now that I live in Mobile, Alabama, I people-watch intently. I want my newcharacters to have some authentic Southern attributes.
   I know a slew of excellentauthentic South-regional writers; I also know I’ll never be that good. Writingthings Southern is its own genre. There’s a humor and a dialogue cadence that arepeculiar (and I mean that in the nicest way) to the South.

 

   Whatever the genre(mystery, suspense, romance) or theme (cats, dogs, yoga, ecology) of the novel,the details of setting are an all-important facet of grabbing and holding areader’s attention. How do you incorporate your setting and what you know intowhat you write?
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  Did you ever watch amovie or read a novel with so many visuals or words tumbling out at arapid-fire pace that they left you breathless?

 

  If you’re an author whois self-publishing or a small publishing company, author, speaker, and formerteacher Ellen Buikema has some advice on how “to keep sensory overload at bay.”

 

  Read more at https://writersinthestormblog.com/2020/03/white-space-in-writing/

 
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  By the by, as themasthead of Lyrical Pens says, if you have a book you want to promote, old ornew, let me know. We can arrange a blog date for your book tour. The onlycaveat is that this site is PG 13.
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  Okay, that’s it fortoday. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raisingprayers for a happy and safe you and yours.
cj
    Now some words frommy sponsors:

 

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