Make that S.H.I.T Up and make it Work!

Write what you know…. wrong

From the time we first were given the assignment to write a story, the teacher told us to “write what you know about.”  At the time that was pretty good advice since it was probably given in the third or fourth grade.  As youngsters, we had a limited view of the world and didn’t know much about things outside our family or neighborhood.  That’s not the case now, so forget that sage advice and listen up.

In my humble opinion, if there is such a thing, I say as writers it’s much more important to know about what you’re writing that to write about what you know about.  Confusing?  Not really when you think about it.  How many science fiction writers have actually been in space? Seen Mars?  Stepped foot on Venus or rode in an alien space ship?  Not many, I’ll bet but they write about it in a convincing manner and make the reader believe what they are reading.

I’m not going to ask how many mystery writers have killed someone or robbed a bank or set up a long con, but you get the idea.  This is where research comes in.  Talk to people how have done the things you want to write about or read other books and publications on the subject.  If the other person got it right or at least believable, so can you. 

I completed a BA in Criminology when I was on active duty in the Army.  I missed a class on Juvenile Justice and the instructor told me to find a facility and go interview a kid who was incarcerated.  I contacted the local sheriff and asked if he would set it up.  I went to the facility on the way home from work one day and I happened to be in uniform.  I met a young boy about twelve.  He was quiet, somewhat shy and seemed out of place there.  We talked for a while, never discussing why he was in there and towards the end of the conversation, he asked if I was in the Army.  I told him I was and he said he’d like to join one day.  I, being a former recruiter, told him he had his life ahead of him, to stay on the straight and narrow and he might still be able to join.  He then asked if the Army taught me how to shoot a gun and asked if I had one.  I answered him and his next comment is one I will never forget.  “I wish I knew how to shoot a gun.  I’d kill my father.”  I can only imagine what was done to that child for him to have that much hate in his heart.  What’s that got to do with “write about what you know about?”  Until that day, I could not imagine that a child could possibly do the things I saw at that facility.

After that, I have given myself permission to have my characters do the most heinous and vicious things to each other in my books and scripts.  I console myself with the fact that it’s my characters and not me doing those things but I usually find someone who has already done them and pattern my actions after them.

Writing about your puppy or grandma’s cookies is okay if you’re under the age of ten, but if you want readers to respond by spending money, do some research.  Stretch out.  Find out how to rob a bank or fly the space shuttle.