tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post8321507979735583165..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Why Not Write About What You DON'T Know? by Catherine CzerkawskaKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-46371299131887874812016-02-21T15:42:25.960+00:002016-02-21T15:42:25.960+00:00Nicely done, Catherine. I'll take a book based...Nicely done, Catherine. I'll take a book based on eventual facts over one based on factual events anyday.glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-42249145171439280822016-02-21T13:59:32.778+00:002016-02-21T13:59:32.778+00:00I post the following on behalf of a twitter friend...I post the following on behalf of a twitter friend, Richard Whipple, who couldn't get Blogger to let him in:-<br /><br /><br />"I think of "write about what you know" (I ascribe to both Hemmingway and Charlie Parker) to be akin to method acting. Imagination still plays a part but the writer is a filter - like Piers Anthony or John Norman v feminism.* <br /> <br /><br />And in those words, the same story can be told in a countless number of ways. One of the writing prompts I have heard of, which I like a lot, is to take a story someone else has written and, at some point, diverge from it. Take Ned Stark. What if he had bent the knee to the Queen? What would have happened then? That is as compelling to me as his beheading (after he bent the knee) to be honest. But to someone else, perhaps without my personal experience, it might not sound so compelling a story. I cannot help but to write about what I know because I am its filter and writing is a thought process.<br /> <br /><br />But, I hope to have added to my personal knowledge after the final drafts either through deep introspection or with the help of beta readers and a library.<br /><br />*I have yet to read any Xanth or Gor but from reviews I gather the result.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-5741116753809951362016-02-20T04:14:21.761+00:002016-02-20T04:14:21.761+00:00Only just seeen this after two days on flight mod...Only just seeen this after two days on flight mode. How true this all is. And how often hkkas that attitude ruined creative writing sessions I' ve done with kids when teachers present think they are helping?Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08003209263201885118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-25544943775359946902016-02-20T04:13:36.016+00:002016-02-20T04:13:36.016+00:00Only just seeen this after two days on flight mod...Only just seeen this after two days on flight mode. How true this all is. And how often hkkas that attitude ruined creative writing sessions I' ve done with kids when teachers present think they are helping?Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08003209263201885118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-78428648387445809532016-02-19T22:56:39.257+00:002016-02-19T22:56:39.257+00:00Lots of interesting comments! Ali, I could argue t...Lots of interesting comments! Ali, I could argue that way as well if I'm honest - I know just what you mean. And it's all to do with the meaning of 'knowing' - you're right. Mieville clearly 'knows' London so well that his fantasy places based on an alternative of that city have an extraordinary reality. I hope the novel I've been working on for the last couple of years is rooted in the reality of the Ayrshire countryside I 'know' very well! But I suppose my main trouble with 'writing about what you know about' is that so many people take it in such a grimly literal way that seems to kill the joy of imagination stone dead. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-26274803688885940522016-02-19T19:51:13.304+00:002016-02-19T19:51:13.304+00:00A brilliant post, Catherine - really enjoyed readi...A brilliant post, Catherine - really enjoyed reading it. It does raise some uncomfortable questions, though, which may well pop up in my current blog.Enid Richemonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17218197995089241666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-41939321734119751342016-02-19T16:11:09.495+00:002016-02-19T16:11:09.495+00:00Excellent post, Catherine, especially as I'm j...Excellent post, Catherine, especially as I'm joining a discussion on this soon at a local litfest - I shall come back and mine it for quotes!<br />I agree we can't be limited by our own experience but was thinking I might play 'devil's advocate' by listing all the authors I love whom I feel write about what they know (or even what I know, which is a big part of the pleasure of reading). <br />and then we can always get philosophical about the meanings of 'knowing'!AliBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611113709872287863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-48784628366054191202016-02-19T16:01:53.050+00:002016-02-19T16:01:53.050+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-46463891960633055292016-02-19T15:57:44.250+00:002016-02-19T15:57:44.250+00:00Jan, tell that to some of my official guests in bu...Jan, tell that to some of my official guests in budget-challenged times. I've been known to fill a cheaper wine into a 'better' bottle. Most often -- to judge by the compliments -- it was not the 'tobacco' which counted.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-36043418897009592122016-02-18T19:16:57.145+00:002016-02-18T19:16:57.145+00:00Catherine, great post. My unicorn helps me out wit...Catherine, great post. My unicorn helps me out with the stuff I don't know.<br />Katherine Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-15913904972352081572016-02-18T16:16:04.444+00:002016-02-18T16:16:04.444+00:00I didn't understand Jan's comment and I...I didn't understand Jan's comment and I'm British! Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-42994094230168173752016-02-18T14:58:37.470+00:002016-02-18T14:58:37.470+00:00Thanks all for such interesting comments. (Jan - y...Thanks all for such interesting comments. (Jan - you also have to be of a certain AGE to get that one, and I am!) <br />I agree with all of you. And yes - Susan - we do use what we know of life to imagine what it might have been like for other people, and I also think Valerie is right too - at some point, it must have been a very good idea to give people permission to write about their own backgrounds, to write from their own experience. It's sad that it seems to have been taken so literally by many emerging writers. The other pitfall that emerges - for historical writers anyway - is to judge the past by what we know of the customs and beliefs of the present. But that's a whole other can of worms! Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-76084556326854082302016-02-18T12:22:30.610+00:002016-02-18T12:22:30.610+00:00I agree too, Catherine - but have always applied t...I agree too, Catherine - but have always applied the rule in a slightly bent way. I've always thought 'write about what you know' as 'use what you know to get to where you want to be.'<br />So, you don't have to commit murder, in order to write from a murderer's POV - but you do have to find that murderous streak in yourself and use it. You have to research and understand what the motivations of most murderers are.<br />You don't have to have been in fear of your life in order to write about that situation - but you do have to remember a time when you were in great fear and use it to create the scene.<br />In that sense, you're 'writing about what you know.'<br />But it is absolutely stupid and pointless to say, 'you've never been a wolf, so you can't write from a wolf's point of view' or 'you've never lived in the nineteenth century - or on Mars - so you can't write about that.<br />No. You start with your own experience and knowledge - and then you use your imagination!Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-23015278491076116662016-02-18T12:20:01.818+00:002016-02-18T12:20:01.818+00:00Good for you Catherine! And for leaving that rigge...Good for you Catherine! And for leaving that rigged writing competition as well. Don't get me started on the racket that is many CW comps, with their high entry fees and teams of anonymous 'sifters'. I don't really know where that piece of advice about write what you know started, but I suppose it could have been revolutionary in its time - eg you CAN write about the council estate you grew up on, rather than set your book in a public school just because so many of them were - you can write about your own experience, but I wonder when it became 'ONLY write what you know' as that is obviously daft. Shakespeare as far as I know hadn't even been to Denmark, or even Scotland! As for crime, there is one famous crime writer who did commit a particularly horrific murder but most of us have to imagine them - Keating's famous series of Inspector Ghote novels was popular world-wide including in India, where it's set, but apparently Keating himself hadn't been there. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-44329133037448659922016-02-18T12:14:15.789+00:002016-02-18T12:14:15.789+00:00Absolutely! Although writing about what you know a...Absolutely! Although writing about what you know about can be a good starting point and give a little confidence - but then you have to find the courage to step outside the comfort zone ... madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-67723652400287811502016-02-18T11:13:27.817+00:002016-02-18T11:13:27.817+00:00No, Lee. It's the tobacco that counts.
(And i...No, Lee. It's the tobacco that counts.<br /><br />(And if you don't understand that, you're not British!)<br /><br />Respec' Catherine. Spot on.Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-19245403603570422312016-02-18T10:43:28.498+00:002016-02-18T10:43:28.498+00:00I'm consistently inconsistent. Does that count...I'm consistently inconsistent. Does that count?Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-51293867839779076422016-02-18T08:58:49.924+00:002016-02-18T08:58:49.924+00:00Writing is a way of actually finding out what you ...Writing is a way of actually finding out what you know. And what you don't. I'm with you on every point you make, Catherine. The suppressing of kids' imaginations to support the educators' consensus, the liberating nature of research, the expansion of awareness by venturing into the unknown - writing's an adventure. It reveals and frees aspects of ourselves of which we're otherwise unaware. Baudelaire wrote of 'Going to the depths of the unknown to find the new' and he knew a bit about it.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-41048912034598019062016-02-18T08:50:31.201+00:002016-02-18T08:50:31.201+00:00Fabulous advice Catherine. It is important to allo...Fabulous advice Catherine. It is important to allow our imaginations to run wild. To grasp an idea and run with it, researching as often as we need to. A great post thank youWendy H. Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04022089775887274043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-71371108814299845022016-02-18T07:55:38.466+00:002016-02-18T07:55:38.466+00:00Well said, Catherine. I've long hated that tir...Well said, Catherine. I've long hated that tired old advice about 'writing what you know' which, if followed literally, would immediately rule out all science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction. It's such a sterile, imagination-denying point of view - and, interestingly, the people who are most adamant that we should write about what we know tend, in my experience, not to be writers. 'Write about what you want' - or what you love - sounds like far better advice to me.<br /><br />What counts, in my experience, is getting to know your fictional world on an imaginative level - understanding how your characters live and think and feel, seeing the world as they see it, experiencing what they experience. If that immediate, intuitive understanding is there, then the most unlikely setting can seem remarkably real and believable.Mari Biellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14221256993468150226noreply@blogger.com