"To write you must live"

scheherazade said:

Do you have good access to material to write about through your life (family, work, friends, hobbies)?

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I take the bus to work.

err..I thought fiction was about making stuff up? Make belief. Tell tall tales. Isn't that why people read fiction? to escape reality?

For example, if my setting is in San Diego, and I have never lived there...I can take a trip, right? Do a little research, then use it as material. That's how I look at writing fiction.

Personally, the stuff I've written (very preliminary) I havent needed to do that much research.

I might not make trips specifically to experience things to write about, but pretty much everything that I do and experience appears in my writing in some way, shape, or form.

That said, if I had the means and time to take jaunts that would increase my store of ideas, shoot yeah I'd do it.

--Q

I don't know any vampires, werewolves or demonic dwarves, so I have to rely on my imagination. But it's a fertile place, so I do ok. Other research I do on the t'internet.

Clare

It certainly helps give you something to write about if you live an interesting life. However, the danger is falling into the "I need to experience life before I can write anything great" school of thought, which usually ends up meaning you never get around to actually writing anything.

I think it is great to experience things in life, but I certainly wouldn't rely on those experiences to write.

Do research, travel when you can, and most importantly, use your imagination!

Sounds more like an excuse for why you're not living (no pun) up to your own expectations as a writer.

If you're the introspective / reclusive type, the last thing you need to do is fool yourself into thinking you need to "get a life" in order to write well.

People who are busy living life complain that they're not getting any writing done because life always gets in the way. Some friend calls. Kids need attention. Do this. Do that.

See the problem? You might just end up in a never-ending loop of excuse-making.

Some of the greatest authors in history lived in isolation, but was still able to captivate the rest of world with their imagination.

And you can get plenty of "life moments" from watching movies, TV and reading other books. Only difference is these moments are usually packed with conflict, the kind of stuff you need as a writer. Let's face it. Most real life moments are pretty dull by comparison (unless you're one of those constant thrill-seekers) -- that's why people use movies and books in the first place; to escape the mundane chores of everyday life.

This might sound harsh, but maybe you're just not the writerly type?

For characterization, I think the best thing you can do is observe real people. You can observe while you're interacting with them personally, or you can observe strangers at a distance (provided you do so discreetly, otherwise you can get arrested, not that I'd know anything about that...). It's hard to imagine a character's personality if you haven't observed or met a lot of different people, IMO.

But never let that get in the way of writing. Write the best you can and if you feel you need to experience something to make a scene richer, go out and experience it. If you're writing a scene in a park, go to a park and hang out for a while. That's all it takes. Everything else can be taken care of with imagination.

I've lived a lot, but there are many experiences that will never make it into my books. And one of my favourite authors has been such a prolific writer I don't know how she has time to live at all! And yet her books are, to me, lyrical.

There's always the "write what you know", sure, but that could mean the way your family interracts with one another, how the seasons change outside your window or what made your town different from the next town over.

I think your stories can be sparked by a newspaper article, or observing someone and imagining what their life must be like. Have you ever sat in a coffee shop and watched the couple at another table and wondered if they were newly dating, in an old relationship, brother and sister, what those mannerisms meant or why did he look away when she put her hand on his arm and said something? I don't know your genre, but I think lots of great stories can be made from the whole cloth of what you read, think about and observe.

I've never gone out specifically to have an experience to write about and I think that could end up being artificial and not what you were expecting at all. I'm a parent and I know the absolute worst vacations I've ever spent are the ones I planned to have maximum fun for the kids and nothing turned out the way I thought it would! On the other hand, if you want snorkeling to be an integral part of the MC's life in your book, it might make it more authentic to find somewhere to snorkel for insight into what he/she would see and experience.

Once you have the genesis of your novel or the framework, you can start to think about where you need to go to find out more, or how much you can get done on the internet - which is a heck of a lot.

Good luck with your writing!

I think CaroGirl and I were having a universal consciousness moment -we seemed to have been writing and posting the same thing at the same time!

And one more thought: let's say you were writing murder mysteries. It doesn't mean you have to go out and murder someone - god, let's hope not - to write about it. You've seen TV, movies, read stories and can call on your imagination to get into that murder mode. It's the same thing with other genres or ideas for books.

However, experience does add the sorts of telling detail and sense of feel that don't come across as original if you're getting them from secondary sources.

So do go out and live some too.
And don't just rely on one source of information. Don't just read fiction in one genre, or one type of nonfiction. Apart from nonfiction books there are journals, articles, photographs, art, letters, newspapers...

CaroGirl said:

I take the bus to work.

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This would make for an epic novel, I'm sure.

I'm a hermit and happily so. I've traveled a bit, but it means nothing to my writing since I set my stories right where I live.

I don't think you have to "live" to write. Part of it depends on what you're writing. And sometimes, I think it can work out if someone else lives for you.

Consider some sort of job or volunteer work that gets you close to people. Talk with them, but most importantly listen.

As an alternative high school teacher, I have quite a few students who have/had experience with drugs, violence, and jail time. I learned a lot just listening to them trade tales. Which is good, because I'm so square, I've never even gotten a speeding ticket. My readers don't seem to notice any absence of verisimilitude in my crime fiction writing.

Some of the worst experiences of my life have given me material for the story and characters. Much also comes from observation of other people and their situations.

I find a fun thing to do for writing material or just experiencing life is to just follow any impulses that come to you (as long as they aren't too reckless).

I spent one afternoon watching this drunk chick screaming and singing all over campus. Eventually she was confronted by the police and I was there for all of it, takin' notes.

Do I regret not actually talking to her? Hell no, she was crazy.

Bluestone said:

And one more thought: let's say you were writing murder mysteries. It doesn't mean you have to go out and murder someone - god, let's hope not - to write about it.

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Oh crap--ah, that is, I think I left my. . .sink running. Gotta go.

scheherazade said:

I'm inspired by Julia Cameron's notion (in The Artist's Way) of going on "writer dates" - going somewhere or doing something you've never done before just to inspire your writing or gain new material.

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A writer's adventure day sounds like a great idea, though the danger to be aware of here is of forcing something to happen. Steinbeck's Travels with Charlie comes to mind. That book just didn't have the heart (feel, soul, etc.) that his other writing did, all because he seemed to be forcing himself to having an adventure he could write about.

scheherazade said:

Have you done anything purely to find material to write about?

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Yeah, but I called it research, whether I knew what I was researching or not.

Bluestone said:

It doesn't mean you have to go out and murder someone - god, let's hope not - to write about it.

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Isn't that how they caught the Menendez Brothers (in LA, quite a few years ago)--one of them wrote a screenplay that was a little too detailed...?

I bet a lot of those writers didn't intend to use their adventures as source material for their writing. Also, there are plenty of great writers who didn't exactly "go out and see the world", but who learned a lot from their own environment. See Jane Austen or Virginia Woolf.

When writing a real-world place, it's best to get as much first-hand experience there as possible. But every story (almost) has people in it, and they tend to be what readers identify with. Which is why it's good to observe--or interact with--other people as much as you can. Lucky for me, my favorite thing to do is talk to people

I'm not sure if my writing improved or not, but I feel traveling and 'living life' changed my perspective on life which is noticeable in my writing. Plus, I've been to some really cool places, done some cool things and met lots of different people. Get out there and see the world if you have the chance. Not just for your writing but for your own sake as well ^_^

Even if you look at it this way: Character drama is about existential experience-- trauma, and change; basically things that happen that the character cannot control. If you look at fiction, you will see it is never about simple things. It is about great opposite forces which totally interrupt the character's comfortable apathy. Have you ever been in a situation that you cannot control? If not, please put yourself in one. I suggest going to a foreign country to teach English. There are many places where you can do this. You may even be able to get a job as a carny or a rodeo clown. They're good for experience.

Interesting spread of opinions here. I write the best from personal experience. But I also write SF/F and SF... with that said have I seen vampires? or other such monsters? No but I know what it is to be afraid so I can incorporate that in my work.

In terms of character interactions or strange habits I look at the people around me. I'm naturally curious and observant of other people and myself. Many characters in my works are parts of me I injected into a character and magnified.

I have done things to figure out just want it is like but also because it interests me; trap shooting, reef diving, drinking to excess, full contact sword fighting... and so forth.

Either way getting out there will make you a more rounded person, which can only enhance your writing. You never know what you'll be inspired by so just try. Good stories are about people so get out there an talk to a few of them.

scheherazade said:

That's why a major introvert like HP Lovecraft can write beautifully imaginative alternate worlds but hit you over the head with wooden dialogue.

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Maybe he just sucked at dialogue?

If you need to study dialogue, you don't necessarily have to go out there and eavesdrop on people (although that's not a bad idea at all). You could try reading some screenplays or transcripts with great dialogue, turn on the radio, tap someone's phone, or sneak a mic under someone's turnover collar. That's what I do.