How do I ‘Write What I Know’ if I’m Not a Dragon?
by Kath Boyd Marsh
Bet you’ve hear the phrase ‘write what you know’. So what does that mean? Really?
Let’s start with what it doesn’t mean. I doesn’t mean I have to be a dragon to write about them. I’m not a dragon. If I were, I’d never tell.
But it does mean the dragons in my books need feelings, experiences, opinions, and families just like anyone. And that’s where I start. With my own experiences, especially with my family.
Sure. Okay. What does that mean, ‘starting with my own experiences’? In my first book, I needed a very spooky mountain, so I went back to stories my grandfather Jesse told of camping in the Grand Canyon and seeing Ghost Rock. I remembered the chilling feeling of hearing about that rock glowing in the moonlight. I took that and decided on a Ghost Mountain that needed to be just as creepy as my grandfather’s stories.
Most dragon tales make the dragons the bad guys. But being contrary, my dragons are the good guys, most of them. What in my life made me think that way? I go back to a summer with my grandparents at their cabin at Mormon Lake, AZ. My grandparents’ cabin skittered with Daddy Long Legs spiders. They danced over my sister and I as we slept. No biting. Just a kind of curious stomping on the guests. Spiders are supposed to be scary? Not for us.
My dragons engage in quests, and they don’t give up. I remember that from that same summer vacation in the mountains north of the Grand Canyon. A favorite game was the ‘puzzle tree’ game. My sister and I would break off bumpy pieces from the bark of the huge pines. We’d close our eyes and run around the tree. When we opened our eyes we had to find the place the piece came from on the trunk. Not easy, and never quick. But we did it.
My dragons have to eat. I remember summer Sunday potluck dinners at the Grange. New dishes we’d never tasted, including tough as leather but tasty venison. Chewing was declared good for your teeth. What might my dragon have to eat that he’d never tried? What would he like to eat, and how would he do that with long fangs?
Before I was a grown up, I published my first book, a fantasy. It was that summer at the cabin. I employed many crayons on lined paper and all my graduate-of-the-first-grade skills to make up the story of the PB. Not a dragon, but a round bald character named for my beloved little sister. I promise my little sister is not an alien from outer-space, but I drew on her adventurous nature. And later I drew on the mystery of how different my sister and I are to give my dragons Cl’rnce and his sister Hazel their relationship.
You get the idea. Now go get some paper and a crayon or pencil, or just practice it in your head. But go back into your experiences. Use how you felt, what you noticed, how you dealt with those experiences, then use them for your characters and your story. Need fresh experiences? Observe your friends, neighbors, and strangers. Give one of your characters the walk of someone interesting you pass. Give another the warm, three-cornered smile of your best friend. Write what you know.
Kath
by Kath Boyd Marsh
Bet you’ve hear the phrase ‘write what you know’. So what does that mean? Really?
Let’s start with what it doesn’t mean. I doesn’t mean I have to be a dragon to write about them. I’m not a dragon. If I were, I’d never tell.
But it does mean the dragons in my books need feelings, experiences, opinions, and families just like anyone. And that’s where I start. With my own experiences, especially with my family.
Sure. Okay. What does that mean, ‘starting with my own experiences’? In my first book, I needed a very spooky mountain, so I went back to stories my grandfather Jesse told of camping in the Grand Canyon and seeing Ghost Rock. I remembered the chilling feeling of hearing about that rock glowing in the moonlight. I took that and decided on a Ghost Mountain that needed to be just as creepy as my grandfather’s stories.
Most dragon tales make the dragons the bad guys. But being contrary, my dragons are the good guys, most of them. What in my life made me think that way? I go back to a summer with my grandparents at their cabin at Mormon Lake, AZ. My grandparents’ cabin skittered with Daddy Long Legs spiders. They danced over my sister and I as we slept. No biting. Just a kind of curious stomping on the guests. Spiders are supposed to be scary? Not for us.
My dragons engage in quests, and they don’t give up. I remember that from that same summer vacation in the mountains north of the Grand Canyon. A favorite game was the ‘puzzle tree’ game. My sister and I would break off bumpy pieces from the bark of the huge pines. We’d close our eyes and run around the tree. When we opened our eyes we had to find the place the piece came from on the trunk. Not easy, and never quick. But we did it.
My dragons have to eat. I remember summer Sunday potluck dinners at the Grange. New dishes we’d never tasted, including tough as leather but tasty venison. Chewing was declared good for your teeth. What might my dragon have to eat that he’d never tried? What would he like to eat, and how would he do that with long fangs?
Before I was a grown up, I published my first book, a fantasy. It was that summer at the cabin. I employed many crayons on lined paper and all my graduate-of-the-first-grade skills to make up the story of the PB. Not a dragon, but a round bald character named for my beloved little sister. I promise my little sister is not an alien from outer-space, but I drew on her adventurous nature. And later I drew on the mystery of how different my sister and I are to give my dragons Cl’rnce and his sister Hazel their relationship.
You get the idea. Now go get some paper and a crayon or pencil, or just practice it in your head. But go back into your experiences. Use how you felt, what you noticed, how you dealt with those experiences, then use them for your characters and your story. Need fresh experiences? Observe your friends, neighbors, and strangers. Give one of your characters the walk of someone interesting you pass. Give another the warm, three-cornered smile of your best friend. Write what you know.
Kath
About the Guest Author:
Before Kath Boyd Marsh moved to Pennsylvannia to write about dragons, wizards, and other fantastic creatures, she lived in eight states, Panama, and one very haunted house. The Lazy Dragon and the Bumblespells Wizard (CBAYBooks.blog) was her debut novel. Visit her and the dragons at KathBoydMarshauthor.com.
The Lazy Dragon and the Bumblespells Wizard-http://amzn.to/2c6IOH4,
Dragon Bonded- https://amzn.to/2MMNhhF
The Pendragon Crystal from the Dragons and Witches anthology- http://amzn.to/2nOX8tv)
Perilous Princesses- https://amzn.to/2In05gn
Bubbles and Smush: Closet Monsters - https://amzn.to/2mW7OrJ
Bubbles and Smush: Trick or Treats- https://amzn.to/2mWjf2C
Bubbles and Smush: Dragon Rescue: https://amzn.to/2lQSRas
Dragon Bonded- https://amzn.to/2MMNhhF
The Pendragon Crystal from the Dragons and Witches anthology- http://amzn.to/2nOX8tv)
Perilous Princesses- https://amzn.to/2In05gn
Bubbles and Smush: Closet Monsters - https://amzn.to/2mW7OrJ
Bubbles and Smush: Trick or Treats- https://amzn.to/2mWjf2C
Bubbles and Smush: Dragon Rescue: https://amzn.to/2lQSRas
RSS Feed
