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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Write About What You Love...



"A lot of people tell writers to write about what they know.
And that's good advice because it gives you a lot of things to draw on.
 But I always like to add that they should write about things that they love.
 And by that I mean things that fascinate them or excite them personally..."

-Suzanne Collins







Write About What You Love

As soon as the evil Maleficent transformed into that purple and black dragon in Disney's The Sleeping Beauty, I was forever in love with... dragons! I love their strength, beauty, and mystique. So, when it came time to write a book, the subject I selected was dragons, of course.

Why not? For me, it was a no brainer: Kids love dragons and I was writing a book (The Dragon Forest) for kids.

I also love ghost stories!  My love for ghost stories led me to write another book series about a group of kids solving a murder mystery with the help of...ghosts! The Children Under the Ice was a fun book to write because of my love for this genre.

But for many writers, coming up with an idea can be a struggle. Why? There are so many ideas to choose from! 

The above quote is from a list of writing tips found over at Tales of Success blog. Suzanne Collins lists 5 tips on writing and this particular tip stood out to me because I agree with it wholeheartedly.

What about you?

Do you write about what you know or what you love... or both?  I find it easiest to do both, frankly.

Suzanne Collins once stated in an interview that she knows about war because her father fought in war, studied war, and taught about war strategy at the War College and West Point. She also listed several books she had read as a child that were about children battling each other and dystopian themes:

Theseus
Lord of the Flies
1984
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

By reading the list above, one can easily see how influential these stories were to Collins who deeply loves each book and rereads them annually.

Do you love a certain theme or era or hobby? Write about it!




Write What You Know

Writers should love stories and storytelling. It is a passion of mine to tell stories, both fictional narratives and personal narratives. But to write a story is entirely something else.

I know much about art, drawing, painting, etc. I know about teaching because I am a teacher. I know about what it's like to be married to a military man. What I don't know is war or combat. My next book will be based in the Iraq war during 2007. So, in order to make my story seem real to the reader, I must study and learn more about this time in US history. But I love to write about wartime romances, and this is why I chose this period to write about. So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the research about this time in US history.

What about you? Do you find it easy to write about what you know?  Or do you prefer to learn about a subject and then write about it? Or do you just "wing" it?

I highly recommend the article about Suzanne Collins over at Tales of Succes blog. She provides some thoughtful insights about her writing process.

Now...get to writing!


Blessings.
Ruth





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