Let’s play a quick game of two truths and a lie. Here are my three statements:
- On my first day of school someone tried to kill me.
- I have eaten pig brain soup.
- I almost died from choking on cilantro.
If you picked near death by cilantro as the lie you are correct! Thank goodness. I hate cilantro so that would be a terrible way to die.
So yes, I have eaten pig brain soup. No, it was not voluntary nor will I ever do it again. Yes again to almost being killed the first day of school.
What does all this have to do with writing?
Excellent question! All of us have things in our past that have made us who we are, and should we choose to draw upon them, can fuel our writing in a powerful way.
Heart and Soul Make Stories Come Alive
The heart and soul of writing comes from experience.
When I was in college, I had the chance to interview a published author. Cue the social media stalking and writing my intro speech. A REAL author was willing to talk to me! I was a lowly student, a mere peon. I didn’t have anything published apart from a highly academic piece in the student newspaper on women’s sentiments towards men’s beards.
I’ll never forget that author’s parting words of advice:
Her advice stuck with me as I continued to write.
Now, I never shy away from an opportunity to try something new or go on an adventure. This has been the single most impactful thing for my writing.
4 Ways to Live Life to the Full (for your writing’s sake, of course)
Here are a few practical ways you can start living life to the full and improving your writing. First things first. You’ll need to expand your range of experiences.
1. Try a new hobby
Most creative types are naturally curious people.
I’ve tried a wide range of hobbies that have translated surprisingly well into my writing. From krav maga training to swing dancing classes, survival courses to photography, these things have enabled me to write with more authority.
That doesn’t mean you have to incorporate every hobby into your books, but you’d be surprised how well your knowledge will be useful.
The caveat here is to do this in moderation. Don’t spend so much time on your hobby that you forget to actually write.
2. Meet interesting people
Time and time again you’ll hear about the importance of writing memorable characters. How can you do that if you yourself have never met interesting people in the real world?
You’ll have a much more authentic and unique ring to your characters when you pull real quirks and traits from people you’ve met. Your cousin who sleeps with crackers in case she gets hungry, that coworker whose smile makes you shudder, your roommate’s mom who bribes you to keep her son from texting and driving—these are the kinds of people you want to meet and draw inspiration from.
Where can you meet said interesting people?
They’re all over! It just depends on what you’re looking for. Writing a corporate scandal? Try going to your local chamber of commerce’s events. Penning a book on man vs. the wild? Pick up rock climbing for a little while. Attempting to write the next James Bond? The shooting range is a good place to meet some sharp shooters.
You’re an introvert and hate meeting new people? That’s where the next part comes in.
3. Get out of your comfort zone
I know it’s hard. Guess what.
So is writing a book.
If you can’t get out of your comfort zone, how will you finish writing a book? Not to mention, how will you write characters into scenes which carry them out of their comfort zones?
It’s time for you to get out there. Crash a wedding! Go to karaoke! Try toast masters, jump out of a plane, or hug a clown! What is it that makes you want to disappear into the floor? Instead of avoiding it, face it head on—just like you make your characters do.
Ever read a book where the character goes from ordinary to fighting valiant battles with little more than a few cuts and bruises?
Just slayed another troll without a weapon and without interrupting afternoon tea?
*Yawn.*
Don’t be that author who makes everything easy for the protagonist. The change starts now, with you. Try something that gets you out of your comfort zone and routine.
4. Write down what you learned
While getting out of your comfort zone is all good and well, if that’s all you do, then it may have been all for naught. Uncomfortable memories aren’t enough to base a story on.
Don’t despair. There’s a simple fix.
Write down your key findings and observations from the hobbies, interesting people you meet, and emotions you feel from being out of your comfort zone. Find a system that works for categorizing these notes so they’re easily findable.
Later you can pull from those experiences and emotions when you’re at that point in your writing. This is a great way to say “Bye bye!” to writer’s block and “Hello!” to cranking out the pages without missing a beat.
Want to Be a Good Writer? Tell Your Story
Being a bookworm doesn’t make you a good writer, but telling your story does.
Some things in life just happen. We didn’t ask for them. Other things we choose to do.
Both are equally valuable to our writing.
Sure, taking a wilderness survival class will add authenticity to your novel, but so will being able to capture the rage and grief from watching a loved one suffer. We don’t choose a lot of things in our lives, but we can choose to use them to sharpen our writing.
Use those experiences to fuel your writing. Others will feel them with you as they read your book.
Now get out of your comfort zone and start writing!
Have you ever gone out of your comfort zone and tried out new experiences for the sake of your writing? How did it go? Let me know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Today’s challenge: What’s a hobby you currently have? How could you use it in your writing? Spend fifteen minutes writing a scene in which you use the things you’ve learned from that hobby to fuel your writing.
When you’re done, post your practice in the comments, and take some time to brighten someone’s day by giving them some feedback on their post.
The post 4 Ways to Use Experience to Fuel Your Writing appeared first on The Write Practice.
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