Posted on November 4, 2022 at 3:58 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Let's close out the (traditional) workweek with some easy writing advice.
This post from Writer's Digest does, yes, focus on a mistake that many writers (often inexperienced ones) make. But it's easy to correct.
The mistake: not writing what you know.
Michael Woodson came to recognize that particular error in his own writing in terms of setting — he figured that no way could he set a novel in his hometown.
And he doesn't have to ... but he could have certainly borrowed particular details (like, say, the decor in a beloved restaurant, the smell in the air of a season changing, or the layout of a particular park) to ground any of his settings and make them feel real.
This isn't limited to setting, of course; you can write about the sting of betrayal without recounting exactly how and when it happened to you, or assign the memorable laugh of a one-time college classmate to any character.
Read Woodson's thoughts on how to write what you know and make your fiction feel real at Writer's Digest.
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