This went up a couple of days ago, actually, but we have a lovely guest post and contest up at Literary Escapism — it’s about telling lies as a writer:
One of the big writer maxims is: Write what you know.
It’s advice that usually works. Do you want real action, real emotions, real consequences? Remember what you’ve done in your own life, and write it out. “Write what you know” is a classic for a reason: pour all that lust for your midnight lover into your sex scenes, add the tiny details about what it’s like to live in Boise, Idaho, and use the uncomfortable memory of what you saw a friend go through in high school for a surprise plot twist to make the reader weep. Nothing sounds more real than what is actually real.
On the other hand we do sometimes run into problems. After all, how many of us have really faced down a demon? (more…)
