Tip Tuesday: Write What You Know

I used to hate this advice, especially as an angsty teen fantasy writer. The advice was condescending. The whole world was telling me I knew nothing. How could I? I was fifteen. I barely experienced life. What did I really know? Homework? Cruddy class schedules? The truth is, if you’re writing from the depths of your soul, you know a lot more than you think - even if you’re just an angsty teen.

If you looked on the outside, I had a great life. Two parents who loved me, a roof over my head, dogs I begged my parents for, and even a few close friends. But let’s grab that trowel and dig deeper into the dark underbelly of life. I was hiding a secret, a secret I would hide until my mid-twenties. I was suffering from crippling anxiety and panic disorder. If I was smarter, I would have used that to influence my work. Or, I could have examined the dynamics of my own family; a schizophrenic aunt and undiagnosed mentally ill uncle living under the clutches of my manipulative, also undiagnosed, grandmother. I could have explored the journey of a man who once had dreams and ambitions of his own, but whose mind slowly disintegrated into madness, having never left the nest of his unstable mother. 

Now, as an adult, I explore dysfunctional family dynamics in most of my work. It was a big part of my life, and continues to be, even after some of those family members have gone. It’s shaped so much of who I am, but as a teenager, I was so in it, I couldn’t necessarily see how cathartic and real it would have been to put it in my work. 

As a fantasy writer, the greatest gift you can give your readers is to be real. Yes, take us to this fantasy world, but ground me in real emotions, real relationships and conflicts. Take inspiration from the world and how it affects you and those around you. Everyone deals with trauma differently, and it’s important to instill these differences in your characters. Dive deep into your psyche and find things everyone can relate to: feelings of unworthiness, fears, disappointments, etc. 

Everyone, no matter the age, has the power to write what they know, to write what they feel. Don’t rob yourself, or your readers, of that rollercoaster of pleasure and pain.