For writers, the concept of “writing what you know” holds great significance, especially for those in the mystery genre. This advice isn’t new, and you’ve probably encountered it frequently. But what does it truly entail?
Writing what you know means tapping into your personal experiences, knowledge, emotions, and insights when crafting a story. It urges writers, including mystery writers, to delve into subjects, settings, and emotions they’re intimately acquainted with. This approach often yields narratives that are more authentic and relatable.
When you infuse your work with firsthand details and emotions, it can result in narratives and characters that are deeper and more nuanced. It’s important to note that “writing what you know” doesn’t imply restricting your writing to your own life experiences. Instead, it serves as a foundation upon which you can explore and expand upon a wide range of topics and themes.
An Experience from My Past
When I was very young, I lived in a small town. There was an apple orchard just up the street, and down toward the main street was a park with a creek. All the kids played in that creek. It was shallow, I recall perhaps six inches of water. Despite that, it never froze over. I had no idea why not, I was young. My parents had no idea, they were naïve I suppose.
It was called Robertson’s Creek, named after a philanthropic businessman in town. He ran the local tannery, as had his father before him. A tannery, if you don’t know, is a facility where animal hides, typically from cattle or sheep, are processed and transformed into leather. The process involves several steps, including cleaning, soaking, de-hairing, and treating the hides with chemicals, such as tannins, to make them durable, pliable, and resistant to decay.
Robertson’s Tannery stank: the chemicals could make your eyes sting. But I was far downstream, on the other side of town. I would play and jump and find rocks and do all sorts of kid stuff in the creek, without a care about the tannery. And although I was alarmed to occasionally see white foam, like dish soap, I’d also see ducks swimming in the creek and think, ‘It can’t be that dangerous, right?”
Wrong.
The Tannery
The tannery had polluted extensive areas of land and water with chromium, which is used to stabilize leather. Various compounds of chromium can be toxic and carcinogenic, especially the compound chromium-6.
It was determined much later in my life that chromium was a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS), a chemical associated with various human health issues. The core of the PFAS debate revolves around the carbon-fluorine bond, one of the strongest chemical bonds that neither enzymes, sunlight, nor water can break. While this durability makes PFASs commercially attractive, it also renders them problematic pollutants. They’ve earned the nickname “forever chemicals” due to their natural resistance to degradation. Furthermore, their water-soluble nature allows water and airborne particles to transport them over significant distances.
Water like creeks. Water I played in as a kid. And if you think it’s all better now… the town was fined by the province for dumping raw, untreated sewage into the creek.
What I Know
I know that ground water and land can become very badly polluted by industries big and small. I know that sometimes, if it’s a main employer around town, businesses seem to get away with a lot of pollution (the tannery is gone now, though the chemical pollutants are still there). I know sometimes local governments do less than they could for various political fears. And I know people unwittingly get exposed to poison.
What I Wrote
In Murder at Sunny Lake, one of the keys to the story is the polluted land and water of the Tiny Flowers Reservation. I created this fictional place, polluted by local industry, as part of the back story to the current Indigenous activism: a call for acknowledgement and restitution after the Reservation was closed.
The fight also brought in a PhD student from South Africa, looking at the Truth and Reconciliation process in Canada and how that might be applied in South Africa. This character, Lethabo Zibi, is a key character (funny I haven’t mentioned him before, hm? So many important characters have been left out of my blog posts, at least until the book is published) . He has exposed truths that are vital to the storyline.
What it Means
The inspiration for this vital plot point-poisoned land and water-came from my own childhood experience. Is there a tannery in the book? No. Is there poisoned water with repercussions to a community? Yes. It was an inspirational event from my past that informed my writing.
Writing what you know is crucial in crafting compelling and authentic narratives. It allows writers to draw from their personal experiences, emotions, and insights, infusing their work with genuine depth and relatability. By leveraging their knowledge and familiarity with subjects, settings, and emotions, writers can create richer, more nuanced stories that resonate with readers. While it doesn’t mean confining creativity to one’s own life, writing what you know serves as a solid foundation for exploring diverse themes and topics, ultimately enhancing the quality and authenticity of their writing.
Later, friend…
P.S. photograph by Anton Atanasov
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