Wednesday, June 04, 2014

On Passionate Writing

Write What You Know . . . Or Not?

Louis L'Amour
“Start writing, no matter what. 
The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” 
― Louis L'Amour


What if we wrote only what we know?
Would our words be mundane, lackluster, boring?

Would the worlds we create seem common? 
Uninteresting?

The characters flat and stencil-cut?

But . . .
Or do our writer worlds expand 
the more we read?
the more we study?
the more we write?

My thesaurus is nearby
As is my stand-by dictionary.
Trusty internet and book sources:
all handy. My partners in this writing process
who help me create the worlds I live in
for weeks, for months.

I can be a cowboy, a minister, a thief, or an angel.
Because I've studied and learned and lived these characters.
I know how they would respond,
how they talk, look, feel.
I know their world as much or better than my own.

I write what I know. 

Blessings!

2 comments:

Linda Glaz said...

I've seen some who write what they don't know very well, because they spend a great deal of time researching vs. those who think they know a topic well and shirk the research. But I can see benefits from both sides.

Caroline said...

You're so right. I tend to favor those who do at least a little research tho. :)

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