Edie here. Today I'm excited to introduce the newest member of The Write Conversation blogging team. Linda Gilden has guested her several time and I know you all already love her as much as I do. Now she'll be a regular monthly contributor. so be sure and show her some love!
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| One of the first pieces advice writers here is, "Write what you know." |
Write What You Know
by Linda Gilden
@LindaGilden
One of the first pieces of
advice beginning writers receive is to “write what you know.” But once the
honeymoon of your writing career is over, how do you expand what you know?
The obvious types of
research – reading, interviewing, visiting key sites, personal experiences,
etc. – will definitely expand your storehouse of factual material. But perhaps
you need to explore new territory and actually step into the subject of your
article, gleaning first-hand experience as a means of research?
When you write what you
know, you can provide your reader with insider information. You have “been
there, done that” and your confidence will assure your reader that you can be
trusted. Your writing will come alive with your excitement of having
experienced the setting or activity yourself. Becoming a temporary expert not
only strengthens your writing but also will broaden the base from which you
write.
Years ago I wrote for a
national sports ministry. When I was asked to write the new soccer handbook,
there was a problem. Even though my children had played soccer, I was always
the mom in the stands who sometime had to be reminded which goal was our goal
and often cheered at the wrong time or for the wrong team. So when I began to
write the handbook, my son’s high school friends who were on the soccer team
stopped by in the afternoons to demonstrate the different soccer kicks and
moves. One would get on either side of me, hold my elbows, and another would
pick my foot up in the correct position for the kick of the day! I learned to
write about soccer moves not on the field but in the middle of my den. But as I
learned I was able to bring life to the handbook.
Others have had similar
experiences. Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickle
and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, worked low-paying, entry-level
jobs in three areas of the country to understand how women forced into the job
market by welfare reform could survive. Phillip Reed, Consumer Advice Editor at
Edmunds.com, decided to write about the car business so he got a job as a car
salesman. This allowed him an “inside look” at the car business and the life of
a car salesman. Yvonne Lehman took violin lessons to understand the feeling of
her character in her story, “Name that Tune.”
So write what you know?
That’s always a good place to start. But when you have exhausted your
first-hand knowledge, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and learn a new
skill. Then, write what you know (and just learned).
Now it’s your turn. How have
you added to your own experience of what you know? Be sure to leave your
thoughts in the comments section below.
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