by Eldred Bird

One piece of advice a lot of writers (including me) get tired of hearing is to write what you know. It’s always felt very limiting to me. I’m more of a “do the research and write what you want to know” kind of person.

But there’s another way to look at this piece of advice. Rather than seeing the statement as restricting the scope of your writing, why not view it as a way of breathing life into it?

The one thing we know best is our own lives. We all have knowledge specific to our experiences, be it from jobs, hobbies, or relationships. I think write what you know means to draw on this knowledge to bring more realism to your work and make a deeper connection with the readers, no matter what you’re writing.

How do we accomplish this? Let’s look at a few examples.

Our Jobs

One place we all acquire knowledge that can serve our stories well is from our chosen careers. You need look no further than crime drama and police procedural novels to find authors who have made their work experience pay off in words.

A prime example is former LAPD detective Joseph Wambaugh. His novels The Choirboys, The New Centurions, The Blue Knight, and a whole host of others are stellar examples of an author’s day job taking their writing to a higher level, adding grit, color and realism to the stories and characters. This sets him apart from the average crime writer.

Of course, you don’t have to be a cop to write cop drama. Michael Connelly was a crime reporter before creating the Harry Bosch series. The insight gained from his reporting led him to construct one of the most successful modern detective series on the market today.

Think of your own career path.

What special knowledge and skills have you gained over the years that you can mine for plot points, character traits, and background color that can bring the reader deeper into your stories? Maybe some work-related incident stands out as a possible plot twist to complicate your MC’s journey or offer them a creative solution to a problem.

Our Hobbies

While our jobs can give us a good knowledge base to pull details from, so can our hobbies. Hobbies are something we do by choice and for our own enjoyment so if you’re anything like me, you get even more excited about learning and applying these new skills because it’s something we’ve elected to do.

Our characters are no different.

What they choose to do in their spare time can add dimension and depth. One word of warning — don’t give them an interesting hobby if it isn’t going to come into play down the road. It should either get them into trouble or out of it, depending on how it’s used to further the plot.

My main character, James, likes playing with new technology, so I used my hobby of flying drones in the third James McCarthy novel, Cold Karma, to add layers not only to the plot, but the main character himself. My fascination with computers and cryptography also came into play in that book.

Consider how your own hobbies might work to add to the characters and plot of your story. Is there a particular skill you’ve developed that could elevate your tale? Even a failed attempt at something new can add dimension and maybe throw a monkey wrench in the works to create tension.

Real World Locations

Where a story takes place can be just as important as the characters and plot. Often location becomes another character, so the better you know it, the better you can integrate it into your novel. This is why I like to use locations I’ve personally been to whenever possible.

My James McCarthy series is based in Arizona because I know the territory intimately. I’ve lived here for 50 years and have explored a great lot of the state. The landscape is diverse with everything from major metropolitan areas to deserts, tall pine forests, and mountains that soar to over 12,000 feet. And the people are just as diverse as the landscapes they inhabit.

While online satellite maps and street views are now available to help research locations, nothing beats experiencing these places yourself. Things like the climate, the people, and the general feel of a location don’t translate well to maps. Firsthand experience gives you a much better chance of bringing the true character of a location to life.

Sometimes you want to fictionalize locations

Having been to a location also gives you a better idea of what not to include in your descriptions. In the second James McCarthy book, Catching Karma, James ventures into the Bradshaw Mountains north of Phoenix.

The location he’s heading into is real only to a point. Beyond that point, I fictionalize his travels. This is for the safety of any readers who might decide to check the area out for themselves. There are a lot of abandoned mines in the area, and I didn’t want to lead anyone into a dangerous situation.

Safety is something to keep in mind when you use real-world locales.

Think of the places you’ve been and how they might impact your characters and their quests. Try to bring your readers into the scene in a way that allows them to share in your own experience with the location.

People We Know

This one almost goes without saying, as most of us already base a lot of our characters on people we know, or even ourselves. Sometimes it’s intentional, other times it comes from somewhere deep in our subconscious mind. Either way, we naturally tend toward the practice.

Most of my characters are an amalgamation of people I’ve met, some long-term acquaintances and others who made a lasting impression as they briefly passed through my airspace. Each of them had some quality that made them stand out from the crowd. Mixing some of those qualities into a single body has the potential to create a memorable, if not familiar character.

One word of caution when basing your characters on real people…

Make sure you don’t make it too obvious. This is especially important when casting your antagonists. Most people won’t like discovering that they are the villain in a story. As for the ones who do like it…well, that’s probably what made them stand out in the first place.

Our Emotional Experiences

Sharing our emotional experiences can be tough. Working them into our writing can be just as hard, as it requires us to relive them. In the end, however, it can be worth it. Using your own emotional experiences as a template for your character’s reactions will lend depth and truth to scenes and draw the reader in.

I used this in Killing Karma, the first James McCarthy novel. The only memory James has of his father is actually the earliest memory I have from my childhood. It’s the only memory I have of my uncle, the late husband of my favorite aunt. I was about two years old at the time.

James recalled his earliest memory in the small, bright living room. It was a memory of his father. He could see a picture in his mind—just a snapshot frozen in time.

He recalled a large, dark haired man reaching down to pick him up. The man appeared so big and imposing, but his warm smile disarmed James and melted away any fears. He remembered the feeling clearer than the face . . . a feeling of warmth, and of love.

Be it a happy memory like this one or something more painful, pulling from your own experiences can add an element of reality that will help the reader connect with the characters on a deeper level and feel what they feel.

Final Thoughts

In the final analysis, maybe write what you know doesn’t mean “restrict your stories to what you’ve personally experienced,” but rather using those experiences as an ingredient to add flavor to your writing.

When we share of ourselves, we invite the reader into a shared experience. After all, isn’t that what being a writer is all about?

How do you bring your life experiences into your writing? Have you ever gifted one of your treasured memories to a character? Please let us know in the comments how you’ve drawn on your own life journey in your stories.

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About Bob

Eldred Bird writes contemporary fiction, short stories, and personal essays. He has spent a great deal of time exploring the deserts, forests, and deep canyons inside his home state of Arizona. His James McCarthy adventures, Killing Karma, Catching Karma, and Cold Karma, reflect this love of the Grand Canyon State even as his character solves mysteries amidst danger. Eldred explores the boundaries of short fiction in his stories, The Waking Room, Treble in Paradise: A Tale of Sax and Violins, and The Smell of Fear.

When he’s not writing, Eldred spends time cycling, hiking, and juggling (yes, juggling…bowling balls and 21-inch knives).

His passion for photography allows him to record his travels. He can be found on Twitter or Facebook, or at his website.

Top photo credit: Eldred Bird