People often advise you to write what you know. It can refer to the topic on which you’re writing - you know how police work, why not write about that? But it can also refer to something different, more trivial.
It's very good advice, as it’s hard to write about something you just don’t know. That’s also why research is part of a writer’s job. Many people think that what they know is just the stuff about the real world, but I realised it’s more than that. In my stories, I write about my own world, the world that I’d created. It’s not real, but I know it. I know it well enough to understand all the basics and complicated things or structures. I understand its culture and people. I know it. So I write about it.
Another thing that you have to know to write a story is the story itself. If you’ve got the characters and the world, but you’ve got no plot, writing’s gonna be tedious. You don’t need to know every single event that’s going to happen, but just the outline of the story. This character is going to do this, and the other one will do that. It all will lead to this moment, and then it’s going to end like that. You have to have some understanding of the events that are going to happen before you write them.
It’s something I’m battling with. Creating worlds and characters comes easy for me, but while I’ve already got the concept for a book or two, it just lacks all the plot. I know what it’s supposed to be about, but all that knowledge is enough to write one sentence, not a story.
So “write what you know” doesn’t only refer to topics you can write about, but also to your own imaginary world and characters, as well as the plot. You don’t need to have it all planned out, you just need to know it. And if you do? All there’s left is writing! And then you can write and write until your fingers hurt and more.
(Now, I said that I have a problem with the plot. I don’t have a plot. How am I dealing with that? I put the idea aside, and I’m still thinking about it, but in the meantime, I started writing short stories about the world I built and know. They don’t need a long plot, after all, they’re supposed to be short. I already know what’s supposed to happen, how the character should do it, and I know that world better than the one I live in. And so, I’ve already finished the first short story of what might be a collection, and I’m nearing the end of the second one. I’ll treat it as exercise, and hope to find the plot for my story soon!)
Peace,
Steph
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