How to Steal Like An Artist

dgaughran · Apr 6, 2011

Hey all,

This is a great, inspiring article by Austin Kleon, a writer and artist from Texas, which you should find uplifting. It's aimed at artists in general, but all of it can be applied to writing.

A taster:

The question every young writer asks is: “What should I write?” And the cliched answer is, “Write what you know.”

This advice always leads to terrible stories in which nothing interesting happens. The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s write what you *like*. Write the kind of story you like best. We make art because we like art. All fiction, in fact, is fan fiction.

The best way to find the work you should be doing is to think about the work you want to see done that isn’t being done, and then go do it. Draw the art you want to see, make the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read.

The link: How To Steal Like An Artist

What do you think?

Dave

Royal Mercury · Apr 6, 2011

dgaughran said:
The link: How To Steal Like An Artist

What do you think?

Dave

That was wonderful. When I looked at the picture of the family on the boardwalk, I burst out laughing because of its truth.

ChaosTitan · Apr 6, 2011

I agree writers should write what they like. I mean, if you don't care for your subject matter, that often shines through in the writing. But I disagree that you should not forget "write what you know." It's good, often misunderstood advice, which is why is it produces a lot of bad writing, as well.

I wouldn't mind a poem about striking a balance between the two.

Libbie · Apr 6, 2011

That's a good one! Nice article.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 6, 2011

The best advice is always "write What Your Know". Anyone who says this always lead sto terrible stories in which nothing interetsing happens knows absolutely nothing about writing, about famous stories, or anything else. He's talking out his ass, and anything he advises is almost certainly wrong.

seun · Apr 7, 2011

Jamesaritchie said:
The best advice is always "write What Your Know". Anyone who says this always lead sto terrible stories in which nothing interetsing happens knows absolutely nothing about writing, about famous stories, or anything else. He's talking out his ass, and anything he advises is almost certainly wrong.

Thank God you're here, JAR. Otherwise, we might have to form our own opinions instead of having yours given as the absolute truth.

fireluxlou · Apr 7, 2011

He is right. This is a lot of stuff as an artist you know inside but either can't force to admit to yourself or you just don't realise it yet.

Linda Adams · Apr 7, 2011

ChaosTitan said:
I agree writers should write what they like. I mean, if you don't care for your subject matter, that often shines through in the writing. But I disagree that you should not forget "write what you know." It's good, often misunderstood advice, which is why is it produces a lot of bad writing, as well.

I wouldn't mind a poem about striking a balance between the two.

People often take "write what you know" literally and think, "I'm a human resources director, so I can only write stories with a human resources director in as the main character" -- not that their job gives them a wide access to different kinds of people, personalities, and experiences, and perhaps even into how corporate culture works.

The above, unfortunately, is a real example.

finnisempty · Apr 7, 2011

When I started writing I wrote what I liked. How can I possibly write about something I knew? I was 10. Now with getting older I write about what I know and what I know also happens to be something I like.

mccardey · Apr 7, 2011

Jamesaritchie said:
The best advice is always "write What Your Know". Anyone who says this always lead sto terrible stories in which nothing interetsing happens knows absolutely nothing about writing, about famous stories, or anything else. He's talking out his ass, and anything he advises is almost certainly wrong.

Oh, James...

*sigh*

Undercover · Apr 7, 2011

I'm with Kelly on this one. It's the balance of writing between what you know and what you like. It should be said write what you've experienced in life and mix it with things you like. Because if you write only what you know, it may turn out you really didn't know anything at all. ya know?

dgaughran · Apr 7, 2011

I know a lot about working in a small law firm, particularly about typing page after page after page of commercial contracts. I have no idea how to make that into an exciting story.

On the other hand, I have never killed anyone, ridden a horse off a cliff, fired a cannon, been swept up in a stock exchange scam, married, died, given birth, eaten partridge, or had sex with a man, but I still managed to write a book containing all of those things.

waylander · Apr 7, 2011

I have never fought to the death in a rigged arena fight, but it is apparently one of the best bits of my first novel.

Start with what you know and work outwards.

NeuroFizz · Apr 7, 2011

The interest and drive for jumping into a novel-length story can be propelled by what an author likes or by what that author knows, or by both. The story itself comes from that author's imagination, but the ability to tell it in an interesting way is an interplay between that imagination and the author's mastery of the writing craft. That final combination will be aided by what the author likes and what the author knows, but choosing one over the other in assigning blame for a poorly-constructed story overstates the importance of both. Talent and hard work in storytelling and in effectively utilizing one's full writing-craft toolbox is what makes or breaks a story.

dgaughran · Apr 7, 2011

Jamesaritchie said:
The best advice is always "write What Your Know". Anyone who says this always lead sto terrible stories in which nothing interetsing happens knows absolutely nothing about writing, about famous stories, or anything else. He's talking out his ass, and anything he advises is almost certainly wrong.

James,

You post a lot of good stuff on here, a lot of advice which has helped me and a ton of others, but this is nonsense. If writers stuck to what they knew, we never would have got to enjoy great stories like The Lord of the Rings, The Sentinel, The Chronicles of Narnia, Children of Men, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, A Clockwork Orange, Watchmen, A Bend In The River, The Woman Who Walked Into Doors,
Middlesex, and A Million Little Pieces (joke).

If everyone stuck to what we knew, we would all be writing memoirs instead of, you know, fiction.

Dave

Lil · Apr 7, 2011

One thing to remember is that what you know includes everything you have ever read, heard, seen, been told about, etc. It is not only what you have personally done—at least, not unless you are a complete dodo.

dgaughran · Apr 7, 2011

Lil,

I know what you are saying, and perhaps I was being a little dogmatic myself. However, when people generally say, "write about what you know", they generally mean it in a prescriptive sense, i.e. stick to what you know.

People often said it to me when I told them I was writing a historical novel set in 1800s Argentina, and I would point to my bookshelf or the stamps on my passport and they would say "you know what I mean". I think they meant I should be writing about priests and alcoholism and the dark, dark loneliness of growing up in rural Ireland and all those other things that Irish writers are famous for.

Dave

jaksen · Apr 7, 2011

I write what what I know and I've done okay so far.

I write pain. I write deception. I write love and life and depression. I write from a young person's pov. (I was once a young person and taught middle-school science for 35 years.) I write with New England and Cape Cod as a backdrop, as I know both intimately.

I write about the water, boats and lobster fishing, and the ins and outs of the tides and currents of the Cape. I write death and life and everything in between. I write as a male even though I'm female, because I know men and I know boys. I've watched and lived with men and interacted with them all my life.

I write what I know in my heart and from my experience. When I was seventeen, I started a novel (as yet unfinished) about a girl living in a fantasy world. I invented characters for her to interact with: humans, aliens, fantastic beasts. I knew them all, too. They lived in my imagination.

Write what you know is good advice. It means more than mere personal experience. If I wanted to write about an electrician or sign-painter - I've know both. If I wanted to write about carpentry, I'd need to find a carpenter or research it online. If I did either, I'd know something about carpentry.

I don't think it's bad advice at all.

dgaughran · Apr 7, 2011

jaksen said:
I write what what I know and I've done okay so far.
[...]
I don't think it's bad advice at all.

All good points. And I don't think it's bad advice, I just don't think writers should be limited by it. As I said above, this advice is usually doled out in a prescriptive manner.

What the author of the article was saying was better advice might be write the book you want to read.

ChaosTitan · Apr 7, 2011

dgaughran said:
Lil,

I know what you are saying, and perhaps I was being a little dogmatic myself. However, when people generally say, "write about what you know", they generally mean it in a prescriptive sense, i.e. stick to what you know.

That's why there's so much confusion about the advice, and why we've thrashed the topic to death in various threads over the years.

Write what you know is NOT meant to be taken literally.

We've all lived, loved, lost, and experienced a wide array of emotions. Use those in your writing. Even if you've only ever lost a beloved pet, you can still channel what you experienced grieving and combine it with your imagination to write about a wife losing a husband.

We've all read books, watched movies, and seen TV specials. We know how to use the library and internet to research. If you don't already know about something, learn about it. Then it's something you know. And you can write what you know.

That's why it's a good guideline for writers. Just don't take it so literally.

dgaughran · Apr 7, 2011

ChaosTitan - I agree with you.

It's just that, as I said above, "write what you know" is often given as prescriptive advice, and often taken literally by beginners. Whereas "write the book you want to read" might be more helpful advice.

In any event, I think we are disagreeing over semantics, and we both generally agree with each other.

Susan Coffin · Apr 7, 2011

Well, I agree with James, and anyone else, who says you must write what you know....only, I add write what you know and more.

Think about it- what you know is probably a whole lot more than what you think you know, and we are always learning new things. For example, the majority have experienced love, hate, loss, grief, friendship, family, work, etc. etc. Write what you know does not mean you just stick to a thing, such as profession or a sport or any such thing, it means to dig deep within yourself for those stories that must be written. It means to educate yourself in the areas that you don't know about and want to write. Write what you know is not stationary, it is ever changing and up to the writer to keep that change going.

ChaosTitan · Apr 7, 2011

dgaughran said:
ChaosTitan - I agree with you.

It's just that, as I said above, "write what you know" is often given as prescriptive advice, and often taken literally by beginners. Whereas "write the book you want to read" might be more helpful advice.

In any event, I think we are disagreeing over semantics, and we both generally agree with each other.

Cool. I wasn't sure, reading some of your posts, if we were agreeing or not. Probably just how we were phrasing things.

Soccer Mom · Apr 7, 2011

dgaughran said:
I know a lot about working in a small law firm, particularly about typing page after page after page of commercial contracts. I have no idea how to make that into an exciting story.

On the other hand, I have never killed anyone, ridden a horse off a cliff, fired a cannon, been swept up in a stock exchange scam, married, died, given birth, eaten partridge, or had sex with a man, but I still managed to write a book containing all of those things.

Hah! I've done four of those things. Four! I'll leave which ones up to your imagination. I like to be mysterious.

seun · Apr 7, 2011

Soccer Mom said:
Hah! I've done four of those things. Four! I'll leave which ones up to your imagination. I like to be mysterious.

I'm going for the horse, the cannon, the stock exchange and the partridge.

How to Steal Like An Artist

dgaughran

Royal Mercury

I think I am, therefore....

ChaosTitan

Around

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

Jamesaritchie

seun

Horror Man

fireluxlou

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

finnisempty

mccardey

Undercover

I got it covered

dgaughran

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

NeuroFizz

The grad students did it

dgaughran

Lil

dgaughran

jaksen

Caped Codder

dgaughran

ChaosTitan

Around

dgaughran

Susan Coffin

Tell it like it Is

ChaosTitan

Around

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist

seun

Horror Man