Writing What You Know and Knowing What You Write

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I remember clearly being instructed on how to sell insurance to people. The CLU which is the chief insurance underwriter said this, “Work your plan and plan your work.” Writing is just like that in that you should always write about the things you know and if you are writing on a subject that you are not that familiar with, do research. There is truth in the saying “do the math”, because it means that if you wish to write about a historical event, do a search for all information on that event. Comedy is usually a forum that is more forgivable than historical events because you pretty much write exactly how you talk.

I love comedy and poetry. I did find out that in writing poetry there are so many forms of poetry that you really should study those forms and then write a sample piece. Haiku is a form that uses a few words that are descriptive that tells a story. Rhyme to me can be tedious and you have to struggle to not write a piece that appears to be forced. Prose on the other hand is more my style because I am not limited in the words that I choose. Writing is a lot like painting a picture, you want to paint the verbal picture that tells the story.

Fiction writing is another way of blending facts with hypothetical scenes. I always said that I liked fiction better because it helped me to kill off a despicable character legally. The world is full of characters and if you have familiar characters in your life, the easier it is to write them. My cousin and I plan on writing a book on my rather unusual family. You can trust me when I say that it will not be a Walton’s type story. My family has many colorful members and it is rather large.

Another recommendation is that you open your story with a knockout statement and you end your story with an equally knockout statement. The old, it was a dark and stormy night may be good for a mystery, however after a few lines it becomes boring. Perhaps a line should go like this. The mood inside the patrol car was as dark as the midnight sky. The veteran patrolman’s voice crackled like a charged lightning bolt. “This is bad, this is really bad, nothing good came ever comes around on a night like this. The tornado like waves of fear seized the rookie officer’s stomach.

I have been around the health care field almost all my life and I have been around the law enforcement field as well. So in order to write about both of them I become the characters that I write about. There is a part of me in each one, and for sure there is a lot the people that I know well in other characters. If I had to write about the economy, I would  ask a lot of questions from the people that surround my area. I could write my own experiences but I would want more expertise in writing.

Spelling is very important if you are writing short stories, novels and documentaries. Use the available tools on your computer or those you find in a library. Comedy again is more forgiving because you can use the lingo of your characters. When writing in dialogue you should start a new line and use the ” key on your typewriter. But the most important thing in writing is to do so because it is fun for you. When you are at a loss for words, stop what you are doing and take a break. You may find inspiration in simple surrounding. I have written an entire chapter after reading the funnies. I have used advertisements to create a scenario and I listen to others as they talk about funny situations.

Poetry is one form that you do not have to capitalize the first word of the sentence. E E Cummings never put a capital in the first word. However in writing a serious piece, capitalization is a must. Whenever I have a contest, I always ask that the writers use capitalization and spell check. I don’t like using Internet chat speak or sticky caps. That is reserved for email messages.  My husband would tell you that I hate it when he writes like this. i got paided. You can edit your pieces and it helps to have a guide on commonly used words that sound alike. I will explain more on that later on as I use this site.