“Write what you know” — Mark Twain<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As I’ve stated other places, I’m a programmer, a musician, a married man, and a father of two. \u00a0I was in the Air Force for 6 years. \u00a0I like computer games, board games, card games, and roleplaying games. \u00a0I’m well-rounded.<\/p>\n
So what do I write about?<\/p>\n
I’m not writing about programmers, fathers, or veterans. \u00a0One of the stories I listed involves gaming, but it’s actually the weakest story I’ve written, and may wind up being one of those stories that never goes anywhere.<\/p>\n
So why am I not taking Mark Twain’s advice, and writing what I know?<\/p>\n
There are a few reasons.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’m already spending enough time with the things I\u00a0<\/strong>know.<\/strong><\/p>\n I like being a programmer. \u00a0I like the creativity and the problem solving. \u00a0I like that I’m able to make money as a programmer. \u00a0I work very hard at it, and I strive to\u00a0become better at it. \u00a0When I can, I even try to teach high school kids how to be programmers.<\/p>\n I’m not so in love with programming that I want to write about it. \u00a0I spend enough of my day in that world that I don’t need to bring it into all aspects of my life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’m in a different mindset when I’m writing from the other activities.<\/b><\/p>\n When I sit with a band, I’m thinking about the music in front of me, the instrument in my hand, and the people around me. \u00a0While we’re playing, I’m constantly listening and adjusting how I’m playing to produce the best music I can.<\/p>\n When I sit down to program, I’m thinking about the problems I’m trying to solve. \u00a0I pour over the code that’s already been written. \u00a0I scribble on whiteboards and I create flowcharts.<\/p>\n When I sit down to write, I shut out the rest of the world, and I listen to the voice I’ve created in my head that reads from my imagination. \u00a0I adjust the words as I write them. \u00a0I focus my energy and thoughts on telling a story, navigating the narrative to places that I’ve thought about in advance. \u00a0Or sometimes, I discover places that I hadn’t expected.<\/p>\n They’re all different mindsets. \u00a0When I sit down to be a writer, I functionally stop being a programmer or musician. \u00a0Thinking about programming pulls me out of the right head-space for writing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Other fiction writers get the things I know wrong.<\/b><\/p>\n The first two reasons I listed are admittedly a little weak. \u00a0This one is getting much closer to the heart of it.<\/p>\n When “Broken Arrow<\/a>” came out, I was stationed at Holloman AFB. \u00a0I saw the movie in the theater surrounded by other Air Force personnel that were familiar with the F-117 fighter. \u00a0So when the camera went to the inside of the fighter and the pilot said, “Switching to\u00a0stealth mode,<\/em>” the audience around me\u00a0groaned.<\/p>\n For those of you that don’t know, the F-117 is “stealthy” because of its shape and its paint. \u00a0When they were first testing the design, they had a big\u00a0foam mock-up shaped like the fighter, covered in the special paint. \u00a0The mock-up was shot with a radar, and for a moment, the engineers thought that the design had failed, because there was a solid blip on their screen. \u00a0A moment later, the bird that had been perched on the mock-up flew off, and the display on the radar cleared.<\/p>\n There is no\u00a0stealth mode<\/em>. \u00a0Yes, when the landing gear is down, the plane is more visible on radar. \u00a0But that’s not what the movie was portraying.<\/p>\n I know lots of little details like that. \u00a0So when fiction gets those details wrong, it annoys me.<\/p>\n I don’t want to get wrapped up in those details. \u00a0I don’t want to risk lowering the quality of my story by getting too involved in details that are only going to appeal to a fraction of my audience.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I don’t entertain myself with a lot of fiction involving the things I know.<\/strong><\/p>\n We’re getting very, very close to the heart of the matter, now.<\/p>\n Because the little details break my immersion and annoy me when they’re wrong, I’m hesitant to get into fiction that pertains to my unique skill set. \u00a0I’ve been burned too many times. \u00a0I already mentioned “Broken Arrow.” There was also “Outbreak<\/a>” and “The Net<\/a>” off the top of my head. \u00a0These are movies that got things so wrong that I remember them because of the mistakes. \u00a0Some people remember “Swordfish<\/a>” because of Halle’s berries. \u00a0I remember it because it was\u00a0impossible in bad ways.<\/p>\n When I see that a movie coming\u00a0out with\u00a0a plot that hinges on a field I know, I wait until other people have gone to see it first.<\/p>\n I don’t invest a lot of time in fiction that relates to fields I know about. \u00a0Therefore, I don’t have a lot of experience with that kind of fiction. \u00a0What business do I have writing fiction that I’m unfamiliar with? \u00a0That’d be like submitting stories to a magazine I’ve never read.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s get right to it. \u00a0The real reason I don’t “write what I know” is:<\/p>\n I write what interests me.<\/strong><\/p>\n I’d been reading The Dresden Files for weeks before NaNoWriMo last year, and that influenced me. \u00a0Before that, I’d been reading The Game of Thrones books, so I started a dark fantasy story. \u00a0Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Brandon Sanderson, so I imagine\u00a0The Way of Kings<\/em> is going to have an influence on my up-and-coming NaNoWriMo project.<\/p>\n It doesn’t make sense to write about something that you’re not interested in. \u00a0For some people, writing is an excuse to learn. \u00a0So why not write about something you know nothing about? \u00a0The process of writing on a subject teaches the writer about the subject.<\/p>\n When you start a writing project, you’re committing to an investment of time and energy. \u00a0The subject needs to interest you, otherwise you will not be able to keep the commitment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’m sure I could write a decent story about a programmer. \u00a0I’m not afraid that I would do a poor job. \u00a0I’m just more interested in writing about a very spiritual young man that’s good with a staff, and his struggles with\u00a0abandonment\u00a0issues. (I hope I finish the\u00a0book, so that the sentence I just wrote will be hilarious.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n My advice to anyone that’s just struggling with writing: Write what you care about, whether you know something about it or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Write what you know” — Mark Twain As I’ve stated other places, I’m a programmer, a musician, a married man, and a father of two. \u00a0I was in the Air Force for 6 years. \u00a0I like computer games, board games, card games, and roleplaying games. \u00a0I’m well-rounded. So what do I write about? 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