Please welcome J. R. Lindermuth to the
blog today as she shares some writing advice that crosses genres and projects….
Get Curious and Go
Beyond -- Write What You Know
Beginning writers are often advised to
write what they know.
Personally, I've always considered that
rather limiting advice. Granted all of us have experiences which we might
utilize in our writing. But is your experience broad enough to justify a short
story or even a novel? A good writer should have curiosity and imagination, two
traits which go beyond mere experience. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to
experience. It can be a great teacher--provided you're willing to learn from
it.
In contrast to writing what they know, I
believe writers can benefit by writing about things that arouse their
curiosity. As E. L. Doctorow put it, "Writing is an exploration. You start
from nothing and learn as you go."
This desire to learn has the power to
stimulate your imagination and take you places you've never experienced before,
a voyage which can transform your writing and give it a power it might
otherwise lack. Your enthusiasm for the subject should shine through and
transfer to the potential reader what you've learned about a subject.
For me, research is half the fun of
writing and provides opportunity to delve into many fascinating topics. Still,
we need to beware of lecturing to our readers. What you've learned about a
particular subject must conform to the story you're telling and contribute to
the advancement of the plot. It may please you to elaborate on a particular
theme and this is where you need to exercise care lest you stall your story and
leave your readers exasperated.
In my writing of both contemporary and
historical mysteries, I've learned a lot about myriad subjects that were new to
me. In fact, some of those subjects were even the inspiration for a story. I
already knew mine owners frustrated by increasing demands for unions in
Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region recruited cheap labor from Eastern Europe
in the late 19th Century. My research on this subject revealed the same tactics
were used to find women for factories and as domestics, a practice that enticed
some victims into the sex trades. This was the inspiration for By Strangers
Mourned.
Here's the blurb for By Strangers Mourned:
Spring is usually heralded as a
time of renewal, not murder.
Preparations are underway in the spring of 1899 for the wedding
of Deputy Cyrus Gutshall. Sheriff Tilghman is hopeful this will put his
sweetheart Lydia Longlow in the marital mood.
But then a woman is found drowned in a local creek.
Doc Mariner's autopsy reveals the woman is a victim of foul
play. The sheriff’s investigation soon puts him on the trail of a mysterious
man named Bauer and a gang preying on young immigrant women.
One of the women escapes her captors and comes to their small
town in search of help. A coal miner she encounters, a fellow Pole, brings her
to Tilghman and helps translate the story of her ordeal. The girl is befriended
and sheltered by a coworker of Lydia's, an act of kindness that puts both young
women in danger.
Sylvester Tilghman will need all
his detecting skills and the help of his friends to unravel the many skeins of
the case before he can dream again of marriage.
John Lindermuth ©2022
Enjoyed this piece. I stopped learning about baseball in the 1940s, research for my current project, to read it. You can't write about what you don't know, but you never know what you know until you start researching.
ReplyDeletePaula