Write what you know.
Who made this statement? Who do you suppose, is the original source of that phrase? Mark Twain? Howard Nemerov? Gore Vidal? Ernest Hemingway? (These names are some of the numerous suggestions I stumbled upon while surfing the web for answers.)
Who made this statement? Who do you suppose, is the original source of that phrase? Mark Twain? Howard Nemerov? Gore Vidal? Ernest Hemingway? (These names are some of the numerous suggestions I stumbled upon while surfing the web for answers.)
So, who exactly said, ‘Write what you know?’
Do
you suppose I’m the right guy to discuss the subject since I have no idea how
the legendary writing advice (and possibly, the most misunderstood) came into existence?
What
might be the case if we were to discuss the pros and cons of etymology and word
origin pales in comparison with what I am about in this post. I’d love to point
the strobe light on two unique examples of authors who put this quote to use,
effectively with the sustained resonance initiating a ripple effect, which kindled
a popular resurgence of their respective genres.
J.R.R. Tolkien is the
mastermind behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Did you know
that many of the scenes in his fiction are slightly altered re-creations of his
real life travels and travails?
What follows is a slightly modified
version of a Wikipedia article:
 |
| J.R.R. Tolkien Photo Courtesy: newstalk.ie |
Tolkien enjoyed exploring
Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog in England (where he grew up after his dad passed
away of a bout of rheumatic fever in South Africa–Tolkien was born here on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein in
the Orange Free State now Free State Province in South Africa). His explorations
inspired scenes in his books. His adventurous mind led him to his Aunt Jane’s
farm of Bag End. The name which
occurs in his fiction.
After his mother’s demise at age 34, Tolkien lived in the
Edgbaston area of Birmingham in the shadow of the Victorian tower of Edgbaston
Waterworks which is believed to have influenced the images of the Dark
Towers within his works.
Maybe,
I’m tackling the ‘Write what you know’
subject in its narrowest sense. Maybe, it’s exactly what I want to do in this
article. The entire concept blurs into personal experiences and feelings and
the imaginative ability of the writer to take a footprint he found in the dirt
in some out of the way place and recreate it as a secret code that could spark
world war III in his fiction!
 |
| Tananarive Due Photo Courtesy: chroniclesofharriet.com |
Tananarive Due, one of a handful of black science
fiction and fantasy writers, in an interview on NPR, tells how she came about the
idea for her book My Soul to Keep (which
won a Best Novel nomination in the Bram
Stoker Award).
Due at one time worked as a
journalist and columnist for the Miami Herald. She
had at some point in time been in a relationship with a guy who turned out to be different. And who
she believed was trying to fool her. What Due did with her personal experience
was create her ‘perfect guy’ by
re-inventing her former boyfriend in her fiction.
My Soul to Keep’s plot
revolves around the life of a young newspaper reporter who is still in her
twenties and who discovers her husband is
a 500-year old immortal from a culture of immortals.
The
places we are most at home become our comfort zones. The niche we are most
familiar with and accept as the definition of who we really are.
These
places invite us to explode into a million creative seeds if we will tap into
its electricity.
Writing
what you know can be a thrill. With a little bit of imagination, it can
make all the difference between a lifeless piece of literature and a definitive
work of art.
Keep
your pen bleeding.
Akpan
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