Sunday 25 January 2015

Write About What You Know


The glitter ball sends kaleidoscopes of light across the dance floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a cameraman training his lens in that direction. I lean my arms on the balcony and look down at the people sitting at their round tables, waiting expectantly. The band strikes up and my partner takes my hand.

"Shall we?"

I take a deep breath as he leads me down the red carpet and onto the dance floor. This is my Strictly moment. A nightingale is singing in Berkley Square and a couple dressed in their Sunday finery glide past us. For a minute I am Flavia and my partner is Vincent as we step onto the floor.

"What dance is this?"

I am brought back to reality with a bump. "It's a foxtrot," I hiss.

For we are not on the set of Strictly Come Dancing. We are, in fact, at a tea dance at the Waldorf Hotel to celebrate our anniversary; the camera crew are here filming for a series about finding love online and the man by my side is not Vincent but my husband of three years, Ian...
 
This is the beginning of an article I wrote for The People's Friend and, if you bought a copy of the magazine the week before last, you might have read it. In it, I describe how my husband and I met at a salsa class in Lewes and our shared love of dance. Some of you might remember me blogging about the Waldorf Hotel tea dance (mentioned above) in 2013. If not you can read it here.
 
When I first started writing, I remember reading an article by Doug McPherson (you can read his guest post here) in Writer's Forum on writing about what you know. Doug knows a lot about music and circuses, so you can guess what he likes writing about! What good advice that turned out to be - I found that by writing about something I love and know a lot about, half the work had been done for me. 
 
It's also worth remembering that it's possible to get a lot of mileage out of one topic. Dancing is a huge part of my life and, looking back over the last couple of years or so, I realise that as well as the article, I have written and sold seven dance themed stories to different magazines. My first ever People's Friend story was called Dancing Queen and my latest, about a woman who realises a perfect dance partner doesn't necessarily make the perfect partner in life (I beg to differ of course!) will be in this weeks issue. I won't tell you the name of the story as it will probably have been changed.
 
Of course, I write about a lot of things I know little about as well (autism, gardening, sailing, anything historical etc.)  but finding out about it takes time... when I write a story about dancing the research as already been done.
 
I'm beginning to think I've now saturated the market with my dance stories... maybe I should take up golf! 


32 comments:

  1. Crosswords, pets and grandmothers seem to find their way into many of my stories. I have a granny one in the new PF Special out in a few days. It's not surprising that the things you enjoy creep into your fiction. But one thing I will never be is a dancer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...and I know nothing about crosswords! Will be sharing pages with you in the special :)

      Delete
  2. I think what you do is move those experiences into another scene - could be painting, or acting, or photography. I often use my knowledge of how it feels to write, to help portray a character involved in some other sort of creative field.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, yes, Terry - you're absolutely right. In fact art and music have also featured a lot in my stories... Now I know why!

      Delete
  3. For *some reason* I've recently written quite a few stories about ferries and cargo ships. Shouldn't take too many of those before the editors will be jolly glad to get back to your dance numbers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M trying to imagine a story about a cargo ship now, Patsy... and failing!

      Delete
  4. It is often the setting that plays a strong part in my writing. I've heard that a setting can be a character in its own right - I think in my case that's probably true

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting - I haven't heard that before, Natalie.

      Delete
  5. What a great post to show how much our lives can influence our writing, Wendy. I missed the article but I love the beginning of it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've started writing stories about people who restore things such as campervans and buildings. I don't know anything about these at all, only from what I've seen on programmes. Oh yes, there was one story I've sent to WW which has a woman who is afraid of dogs - that is me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I first started reading this, Julie, I thought you were going to say that you were an expert on restoring campervans - I was going to be well impressed!

      Delete
  7. Wendy, Don't Do It! (take up golf, I mean). It's addictive, I am reliably informed and seems to take over your life... (speaking from experience as a merry 'golf widow' - ie: I don't mind!).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't worry -I can't imagine ever playing golf, Helen. I can't even play the one with the little windmills and tunnels.

      Delete
  8. ..what I mean is, I don't mind my man being out on the golf course (peace, perfect peace!) BUT you might mind not being able to sit and write your stories...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've never had a dancing husband. You're very lucky, Wendy.

    After some time, I realised that all my novels include a pet death and burial. I've buried many pets, but then probably most people have. It makes an odd recurring theme.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's actually the one thing I haven't written about... I'll leave that to you, Frances as you're so good at it!

      Delete
  10. Interesting post Wendy. I wrote about what I know, Italy for my first novel (still to be published ;-)) and with my second novel, I'm writing about the eighteenth century (and Italy), which I don't know that much about, and it's been a real challenge. Getting there now, but have piles of research books and have got lost amongst them quite a few times! Sounds like Italy is to me what dancing is to you, when it comes to writing :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, yes. I often use settings I know well too, Anita.

      Delete
  11. What I write comes mainly from my life experiences, liberally strewn with the fruits of my imagination - spot the join. I seem to have passed through my 'death' phase. Now I'm strolling through people's heads. You see, your article has got me thinking. Thank you. I'm Moya

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'Strolling through people's heads' I like that. Thanks for visiting, Moya.

      Delete
  12. I think we all give away a little bit about ourselves when we write. interesting post, thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congrats on this one, Wendy. Can't wait to see the article. But please don't take up golf. What about professional tearoom assessing instead?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A lot of mileage to be had from that one, Tracy, but mostly around the waist, I fear!

      Delete
  14. Excellent advice. Sadly I know a little about a lot and a lot about nothing! I usually write about family issues and try to find strong characters. Relationships are something we can all write about.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thoroughly enjoyed this article - so true. It's always music and children for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Jenny. Thanks for visiting my blog.

      Delete
  16. Taking something you know well and transplanting it into a a fictional situation gives your story a solid foundation. There is pleasure to be had from reading about something the author clearly knows about. It makes you trust the story.

    PS How lucky you are to have a dancing husband!

    ReplyDelete