Writing about writing for writing's sake

Writing about writing for the sake of writing: Storyline and Character Building.
-Unsolicited opinions and random thoughts on writing; mine and everyone else's.
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As I progress in life, I find that I am in love with the written word. Being an avid reader since I picked up my first real book at the age of ten, I'm infatuated with every aspect of it. I've also written my own work, off and on, since junior high; mostly for my own fun and enjoyment. It's only recently that I began taking this whole thing more seriously, and started to open myself up to outside critiques. Like a teenage boy after having his first taste of a lovers' touch though; I'm enthusiastic, but in dire need of practice. To that end, I'm going to write as much as I can, when I can. And what better subject to start with than writing itself.

Like I said, I love reading. I found this website and immediately began to page through the offerings from others like myself. Remember that I am in no way a professional, so take what I have with many, many grains of salt. That being said; I have noticed a few areas that I think could use some work pretty consistently: storyline and characters. Specifically, fleshing out both and making them believable to the reader.

I dont know about you, but I can always tell when an author has no personal experience with the subject he is writing about. I was once told by a English teacher of mine that it is always better to write about what you know. That way, you can throw in all those little details that make the difference in a story and make the reader want to believe you. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to say that you need twenty years of culinary experience to write a story about a man's life as a chef; but it couldn't hurt.

This doesn't mean either, of course, that I am discouraging fiction or fantasy. One of the greatest hallmarks of a good writer that I have seen is the ability to take a good story, or a lie, and make the reader believe it. Part of the way you can do this is to pepper the story with your own personal experiences. Maybe you have never gone sky-diving, but you're writing a story about a super-spy that has to infiltrate enemy lines by parachuting in from a C-130. Now, you may have the basic concept - strap on chute, walk out door - but you lack the experience to truly flesh out the situation.

From here you have a couple of choices. One; you can change the situation. Maybe it doesn't have to be a plane. Perhaps you grew up in the mountains, riding four-wheelers or snow mobiles. Have your character attack the enemy in a thrilling, high speed chase through the snow on his custom military-grade snow mobile. That will give you all those little details to add in, and really help your reader to visualize the action.

The second option is to take some of your own life experience and knowledge and lend them to the story. Are you terrified of heights? Lend that to you character and let you narrative focus on his mental state at the time, while you gloss over the actual action going on. This kind of written slight of hand will let your reader fall into the moment, without distracting them with your less than thorough knowledge off the details.

So, what if you don't have the experiences you need? Trust me, you do. To prove it to you I will give another piece of advice from my English teacher that has helped me out on many an occasion; make a list. It's great to think about it, but actually sit down at your computer or with a pen and paper and list out every title that you have ever had. I'm not talking about job titles, though those might be on the list. I am talking about anything that someone else could have called you in your life. I guarantee you'll have had more experience in your life than you ever thought, unless of of course you have been chained to a basement wall your entire life. And if you have, I'll bet there is a heck of a story there too.

As an example to get you started, here is an extremely small excerpt from my own list. In my life I have been: a son, a brother, an uncle, a husband, an ex-husband, a pizza delivery guy, a friend, a lover, a home-improvement specialist, a coward, a student, a teacher, a soldier, a skater-punk, a leader and a follower. I have been the hero and sometimes the villain. At darker times I have been a liar, a cheat, a thief, a druggie and a pervert. I have stood in a church and thumped a bible with the best of them, and felt the stinging condemnation from the same congregation as a sinner on the way to hell. I have felt the warmth of a woman’s love, the pain of a being cheated on, and the indecent thrill of being the other man.

At different times in my life I have been all of these things, some more than others at any given point. It is by no means the complete list, which is ever growing and ever changing, but you get the point. Every one of you can make your own list. Some of your's will be similar to what I have on my list, but some will be entirely you; the whole is what makes up your experience. Each of these titles has a story behind it, one that you know infinitely well. Lend that story, those experiences and feelings, to your writing. While every persons experience is unique, there is a common thread that flows through the fabric of humanity that will make your readers identify with something real in your writing. Something that you didn’t have to make up, but just knew. They will recognize it and they will appreciate it, and along with it, your story.

The same thing can and should be applied for your characters. No, not many of us can claim to ever have had the experience of being a ninja, or a Viking warrior. But, can you do a back flip? How is it done? Maybe you have a total inability to wake up on time, ever; or an irrational fear of bellybutton lint. Whatever it is that is unique to you, lend it to your characters for a while. Don't just give your hero a back-story, make the reader feel what it's like to be them.

I think that you will find, if you take a little more time with these areas, your writing will find a much more accepting audience. And writing about what you know is just plain easier than making something up. But, as I said, these are only my opinions. The worst vice is advice. Take it for what it is, and good luck.

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I write these things for practice in writing, but also I write about things I am finding out along the way as a newbie. Many of you learned all of this long ago; but my hope is that another newbie might find this useful, so they don’t have to figure it out themselves. If you found it interesting, you might want to check out:

Writing about writing for writings sake2  [ASR] #1485753 Feeding the Writing Monster by angeljack

Thanks for reading, please let me what you thought about it. I’m still definitely a newbie and am always trying to improve.