Write what you know.
Sam Clemens, busy NOT being a French peasant girl.
– Mark Twain
Famous advice from one of the most talented and accomplished writers in American history. And if I'm being honest, it's bunk.
I say this as a big, big fan of Mark Twain's (real name Samuel Clemens) work, especially stuff like Roughing It, The Innocents Abroad, Pudd'nhead Wilson, and of course, Huckleberry Finn. And oddly enough, I'm not sure how seriously Twain took his own advice. After all, his favorite, among all of his works, was Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte. And need I point out that Twain, while clearly a citizen of the world and a man of some extensive life experience, was not a medieval French peasant girl, never claimed to have a single religious vision or hear a single disembodied voice, never successfully (or unsuccessfully, for that matter) led French knights in battle, and didn't know what it was like to be burned at the stake.
No matter who you are, no matter what you write, you're going to eventually find yourself in a situation where you run out of experience/knowledge. And then what? Research?
Research can help, but again, it's likely to take you only so far. What then?
Well, you can always try to extrapolate. Case in point:
I was walking in from the parking lot to the building at my day gig the other day with a co-worker I know slightly. Great guy, and he's at least 6'10" tall.
And it occurred to me: I don't know how it felt to be 5'4" as an adult (because I haven't been 5'4" since 6th grade, and that was a looooooong time ago), but as I was walking in to my building with my co-worker, it occurred to me that our height differential was something I definitely noticed. And that's not something I usually take note of: people are as tall as they are or as short as they are. I rarely notice, mostly because other people's height usually has no impact either positive or negative, on my daily life.
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| Who among us hasn't felt like Kevin Hart standing next to Dwayne Johnson at one time or another? |
And again, my co-worker is great. He's not a threatening guy. At all. But with height he can't help but be....well....imposing, I guess would be the word.
And that was my in.
From there it was simple (notice that I said, "simple," and not "easy") to get into the head of a 5'4" character dealing with someone much taller than him. It really helped to shift my perspective and allow me to inhabit a character whose stature (literally) is far different from my own.
And that's just one example.
Another quick one, and then I'd love for those of you taking the time and trouble to read our little blog to share some of yours?
Another scene in my current work-in-progress is from the perspective of an accountant who has uncovered what he thinks is embezzlement by one of his clients. This client's fees are literally putting the accountant's kid through college. So what does he do?
Now, I'm not an accountant, and I've never been on the horns of a dilemma where my client has placed me as a result of my uncovering their bad actions. And said situation has never had the potential to ruin my life.
But everyone has had that sinking feeling when faced with personal or professional disappointment. And everyone on the planet has gotten that nauseating feeling in the pit of their stomach as a result of shocking news. So....... extrapolate!
How about you? Have any sure fire ways to help you lend authenticity to writing a situation with which you have no personal experience? If so, please share in the comments!
See you in two weeks!
The way I put it to students is...for your first book, write what you know. You'll have enough to worry about, simply concentrating on the craft of writing! But after that, "Write what you WANT to know" - because you'll be doing research when you pull out of your own experiences as fodder, and why not enjoy that research! For my book coming out this March (The Silent Film Star Murders) I read up on the silent film industry. In my work in progress, I'm reading up about Egyptian digs in the 1920s. So your post really relates to my experience, Brian!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was writing my story "James" in the Billy Joel crime anthology, I was writing a story from the point of view of a rockstar. And I had a problem with it. I kept thinking, what do I know about being a rockstar? I figured I wouldn't be able to make the character authentic. But then I realized that deep down he's a human being with the same hopes and fears as everybody else. Deep down, he was a good person. And I could write that.
ReplyDeleteYou're wondering about being a 5' 4" adult? That's taller than I am. Imagine my view standing in any kind of a crowd. I notice height differences all the time, mostly as I get a crick in my neck from looking up.
ReplyDeleteThat said, many of my characters are nothing like me: men, extroverts, tall people, criminals. They are all people with feelings. What drives them may not drive me, but I can imagine it.
wow
ReplyDeleteit's pretty nice
I’m 6’2½ or was… age is catching up. Although I presumably benefit, I admit to taking height for granted. Women may unfairly judge height as attractive, but it’s little different from men noticing a leggy woman. I think. But being tall has one distinct disadvantage.
ReplyDeleteDoor lintels.
The top part of a door frame.
You may have noticed doors are taller and beds are longer, because well-nourished North Americans keep growing. Indeed, my college replaced dorm beds because students had outgrown them.
My parents moved from one antique house to another antique house when I was a teen. Unfortunately, my designated bedroom featured a smaller door frame. You see where this is going, but I didn’t.
I literally ran into my room where the lintel caught the crown of my head. My skull stopped moving but my body didn’t– it flew forward without me. Later, my brother said I looked like a chicken swung by the neck. Oh damn that was painful and hurt for weeks.
And that is one experience of being tall.
To make myself feel a little better, apparently my Dad’s family is distantly related to Twain. Now if only I inherited writerly DNA…