tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7882241647734848746.post6185509822955180263..comments2023-06-20T07:47:24.386-05:00Comments on The Spiced Tea Party: Writing what you know...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7882241647734848746.post-58399451475319888742007-10-06T13:03:00.000-05:002007-10-06T13:03:00.000-05:00I agonize over this question on a weekly basis at ...I agonize over this question on a weekly basis at least, Kate. Thanks (I think) for bringing it up. <BR/><BR/>Sometimes I think I don't know anything but my fantasies, but sometimes I figure I must know something -- a need, a feeling, an emotion -- because when I write it my voice (or my character's) takes on some of the depth of where it came from. <BR/><BR/>When my husband reads my drafts (which he always does), he always recognizes these passages.<BR/><BR/>There's one in <I>Carrie's Story</I>, where she bursts into tears because she envies Jonathan for having "his life really together" and not having to "worry about stuff like whether he's really smart or talented or just kidding himself."<BR/><BR/>And one in <I>The Slightest Provocation</I>, where Kit muses that "Perhaps... we owe a debt of honor to our poor, flawed, frightened and deluded younger selves, to become the people we should have been, if only we could have."Pam Rosenthalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04357928783704661668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7882241647734848746.post-78714103008254766992007-10-05T21:32:00.000-05:002007-10-05T21:32:00.000-05:00In my first fiction course, when I worked on my fl...In my first fiction course, when I worked on my fledgling books, the one that clicked was based a lot on my past. But better. What that taught me was "underlying truth", which to me is "write what you know." Some stories resonate because I feel the characters are true, and the author expresses things with an honesty that speaks to me. <BR/><BR/>I was working on my WIP and watching the Canadian version of American Idol (sorry if I've mentioned this before), and one of the judges said: cut the cute crap and be honest. Aha. I saw what was wrong with my WIP. I wasn't pushing myself to be honest with the characters. <BR/><BR/>Does write what you know mean write about forensics if you are in that field? As Celia said, how do your write historicals? For me, it means trying to be honest to the character, at least as honest as I can with what I know, or can research and then "know".<BR/><BR/>I loved this question, you posed:<BR/>Is it even necessary for a writer to know why she writes the way she does?<BR/><BR/>Have you every read some of your work and thought: I wrote this? Just because it seems like thoughts you didn't even know you had? Maybe part of the writers journey is exploring that question as they write? Maybe that's what keeps it even more interesting after 10, 20, or 50 books?Sharon Pagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15204125452024951988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7882241647734848746.post-49219318860601626412007-10-05T17:21:00.000-05:002007-10-05T17:21:00.000-05:00Well, the same issue is with historical. I haven't...Well, the same issue is with historical. I haven't lived the time period.... but if you read and so on, you get to learn things. I don't think you have to live it to know it to write it.<BR/><BR/>Hmm, that's an odd-looking sentence....Celia May Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00124733975264957145noreply@blogger.com