Write What You Know

NaNo is coming.

People say write what you know. I say write what you want.

 Does this mean every story that breaks out of the confines of your mind will become an acclaimed and published piece of fiction? Of course not.

 Writing is not science. One recipe might not spell success. What is right for one person may not work for another. On the other hand, there are some helpful guidelines or suggestions that can help a writer grow in tremendous ways.

 Write what you know, or don't. If we only wrote what we know there would be no soaring fantasies or speculative historical digging out the details of people from the past. Every story would be a modern tale with limited paths. Writing what you know can be awesome. I want to write stories in the theatrical landscape because I am an actress as well as a writer.

 Write what you know. If something happens that inspires you, use it. Of one small moment gives you the idea for the most insignificant detail of your story, use it.

You are a writer. You get to choose if your story will be filled with minivans or  brave knights. You are a world creator, whether that world is a mirror of your own or a deeply detailed kingdom.

 You've got this. Use what you know to your advantage and if you don't know something research it until you do. How do you write what you know? By writing. Write and you will learn. Write all the stories spilling out of you and love them.

 Write them all, whether you know them or not. Step up, introduce yourself. You've got this.

 ~ a rambling author

PS When I use the words write what you know, I am using them in the context of today's world. While you may have plenty of knowledge about a subject, you wouldn't be able to do some of the things you write, if that makes sense.

Wednesdays of Writing are Back...

...I hope! I've been thinking. My life is still crazy, but it has calmed down a bit, and I think I need to blog more. I'm going to try my best to blog every Wednesday and keep you guys informed on my writing pursuits. Tomorrow, I hope to have a book review up because I would love to bring Bookish Thursdays back as well (and then maybe Theatre Tuesdays). But baby steps. Baby steps!

 Next month is National Novel Writing Month. While last year's novel didn't get finished, I hope to have a bit more time for writing pursuits this year. To combat writer's block, I've decided to plot my new story this entire month! I've started already, but there is still a lot to be done and I hope I am ready by November 1.

 My story is entitled 0. That's it. It's a working title. I don't know if it will be the final product or not, but I didn't want to stick to my original working title, The Z Papers. I don't have an official synopsis yet, but 0 is the story of a college drop-out and conspiracy theorist named Elizabeth who finds out that the thesis she bombed during her failed master's degree could be more true than she thought. When she's offered an incredible internship with a large health organization in exchange for her research, she learns more about the increasingly violent outbreak that turns humans into monsters. During her internship, she meets Patient 0, the first victim of the disease who shifts between a mysterious young man and a vicious monster. As things grow more complicated, Elizabeth must make a choice between one man and the world.

 That's a terrible description. If I can I will keep you informed of the storyline and characters as I add them. Right now my main characters are Elizabeth, a Korean-American girl and 0, a man who won't say his name and is infected, though his human side comes out between violent outbursts.

 I'm excited about this story because I enjoy twisting things from the usual. I never thought I'd write anything zombie-related, but I'm attempting to make a virus similar to a zombie-virus appear to be a realistic possibility. Instead of the dead rising, this zombie virus only infects the brain of humans, deteriorating it in a way that makes them fall to basic instincts. (I promise this isn't a typical gory zombie story!) There are some scary diseases out there now that are developing and that was one of the things that inspired this story. The story also deals with the importance of life, terrorism, and finding purpose in life.

 I'm excited! Now to get to plotting... If you want to see some of the images I've found to go along with my story, check out my Pinterest board.

What do you think?

~ a rambling author