Musings

“Write what you know.”  MFAs are known to have difficulty writing about things outside literary academia, And Hemingway used his storied life for amazing inspiration.

But I think there’s another way.  Christopher Paolini was only 15 when he began Eragon.  Stephen King has never been some gunslinging knight-errand.  I believe that with a clear/open attention it’s possible to let a world that actually exists in some quantum niche to take root in your mind and transcribe it onto the page.  The key is being open to it (and not letting it drive you insane).

10 thoughts on “Musings

  1. I started developing my epic saga at 5 though I didn’t write any of the stories until I was 15. By then I had a handle on the world’s religion, geography, history, ect so much so, that my fictional world was more real then the world I physically inhabit. 🙂 I never stopped writing that series. So I have 20 years worth of stories written about it spanning several generations and planes of existence. I’m weird; I know.

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  2. Writing what you know means you write with confidence. However, you can also research, it just means more work to make it appear you know what you’re talking about. I prefer to start with what I know then if the muse takes me into unknown territory, I do whatever research I need to bullshit my way through it. On the other hand, I’m also practical. So far, my stories have taken place mostly in parts of the world I’ve been to so I can draw them from how I saw them. However, there are a few places mixed in I never visited. In those cases, Internet! I’m not one of those rich, dedicated authors that can pick up and travel to each location just to make the place 99% of the readers will never visit look real. Geez! There ARE limits. I HAVE been lucky enough to have traveled to a lot of places in my life that gave me lots of source material, though. Then again, when it comes to fantasy, my current release, all bets are off. That all comes from my head. On the other hand, how I build my fantasy world is also partially based on exotic places I’ve been.

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  3. So I’ve experienced a lot in life including living with an open sexual mind. So my strongest pieces of conversation are the sex related ones which brings in my challenges. I don’t want to overpower the rest of my writings with the sexually toned ones..yet, those get the most views. I guess a majority of my time is spent at the drawing board contemplating on greatness. Loved your post!!

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