Life Experience and Writing

QUESTION:  Do I really need real world experiences to write fiction?  In other words, can I write a fight scene if I’ve never hit anyone or been hit?

Real life experiences can certainly inform your fiction and give it realism, but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary.

I have written space battles without being an astronaut, diving scenes and I can't swim, and fight scenes using swords, fists, and futuristic weapons, and I have never used any of them.  (I am a pretty good shot, though.)

I've never had the first reader tell me that I got any of my fight or action scenes wrong.

I have never been punched, but I used to ride.  I have had a horse smash her head into me. I've been kicked, knocked into a tree, and have had a six-hundred pound horse fall on me and step on me when she was getting up.  

All that has given me more than enough visceral information about taking physical abuse to use in my writing.

I got my diving scene right through research, then I ran the scene past friends who do dive to check for accuracy.  

However, the more you write about something in particular, say your main character is a diver who spends much of the novel underwater looking for a treasure, the more important having personal experience is.  

As a non-swimmer who has never dived, I would never choose a main character who spends important parts of the book underwater because no amount of research will keep those scenes as authentic as they need to be.

That First Book

One of the writing sites I follow had a question from a new writer who hasn’t finished his first book but had questions on putting that book out as self-published.  Here is my reply.

First and foremost, write the dang book.  

Second, edit the dang book yourself.  

Third, get decent beta readers or a critique group who like your genre and listen to their comments.  If more than one notes the same problem, rewrite accordingly.  Otherwise, if the advice feels right to you, follow it.  If none of the advice feels right, you need to rethink your attitude toward your writing.  Arrogance has never produced good books.  

Fourth, hire a good content editor to help you fix your book, then a good copy editor to fix those typos and grammar problems.  Pay attention to what they do and learn from it so you won’t make those mistakes again.  

Finally, seek advice on self-publishing. 

A few things not included in these steps.  The writing craft is learned in the same way as the skills needed to play a sport.  You will not produce a great book without those skills any more than someone who has never played basketball can become an instant professional.  Practice your skills, and find good teachers to help you.  It will be worth it in the long run.  

Also realize that very few writers produce a salable book the first time.  Most are dreck, and the first book you put on the market will define your career, particularly if it is the first book in a series.  Your other books may be much better, but, if that first piece is dreck, it will prove costly because readers won't read them.   

Dealing with the Naysayers

 I've been at this business for over thirty years, and I am an ebook pioneer so I've seen it all. The first thing you need to know is that whatever you write, whatever publisher you choose or not, whatever media you write for someone will make fun of you.

From your fellow writers and publishing professionals, you will face sneers and contempt. If you are e-published or self-published, if you write for Kensington rather than Pocket, or paperback rather than hardcover, or if you write romance or erotica or mystery or science fiction or any other sort of fiction, you are looked down upon by someone, and that person has no trouble telling you so.

From the real world of family, friends, readers, and strangers, people will sneer at you for all the above reasons as well as a few more. Most people think LeBron James works hard for his craft and has a natural born skill, but writers just put words on paper and anyone can do it.

Over half the people who learn you are a writer tell you that they are going to write a book someday, and they think it will be published instantly. People believe that most celebrities actually write their own books, and therefore, if that idiot can write a book, anyone can.

The most important thing to know is that THEY don't define you. YOU define you.

I've discovered that my enthusiasm can win over those blank stares. The trick is to believe in what you are doing and who you are. If you give those people with sneers or blank stares the power to define who you are, then you've lost, and you are nothing.

Instead, believe in yourself and what you are doing. Writing is one of the hardest jobs in the world, and if you succeed, then you are a success. Glow with it, and no one can belittle you.

The Character Trinity

 I first recognized the character trinity and its power in the original STAR TREK.  

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were an ideal heart, mind, and action trinity.  When a problem needed to be solved, Spock was the logical mind, McCoy the emotional heart, and Kirk took both and created the ideal action.  

These characters can also be considered a thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.  Two opposite sides of a problem from Spock and McCoy, and Kirk pulling both together to find the solution.  

Harry Potter, Hermione, and Ron are also a character trinity.

Three major characters like this can be a very powerful means of telling a story because they are not only working together but also working against each other.  They can even reflect the complex nature of the book’s world or the moral dilemma of the story.  

A love triangle in a romance is almost never a character trinity because the conflict is about the relationships, not the way these characters react together in the real world.  

Instead, use the character trinity in more world-based stories like fantasy, science fiction, or adventure novels.  

If you decide to use a character trinity, your main character must always be the action taker or the synthesis.  The other two tend to be either passive or reactive which makes a very poor hero.

Research or Make It Up

 My guilty pleasure is TV shows about the paranormal, and I love novels featuring mediums and ghost hunters.  

I finished a book about a medium a few days ago, and the world building and plot choices which were created without regard to the current research brought a question to mind.  When is it time to use the research on the subject instead of making everything up?

Science fiction writers really don’t have a choice.  When scientists realized that Mars couldn’t support human life, writers stopped writing about Mars with humans without space suits roaming around the planet.  Now, writers use hard science fact when they want humans on Mars.

Parapsychology isn’t an accepted science for many, and some scientists will never accept any form of proof that ghosts, psychic ability, etc., exist because it is against their materialistic worldview.  The same is true of some non-scientists and those whose religious faith denies the existence of the otherworldly that is not part of their faith.

Yet, many people do believe in the paranormal, and many watch shows like GHOST ADVENTURES.  These shows and paranormal research have certain accepted facts in common like the kind of electrical energy that is generated by ghosts and the use of EMF meters to detect it and that spirit voices the human ear can’t hear can be heard on audio recording equipment.  

So, the question is should you make everything up or should you use the established research to write your paranormal story?  

The first thing you should consider is your readers.  Most people who read paranormal novels have a working knowledge of the current information on the subject, if for no other reason than they’ve read enough stories to pick up the basics.  There’s also the real possibility that someone who enjoys a good ghost story may also enjoy GHOST ADVENTURES or THE DEAD FILES. Making it all up may annoy these readers.

However, it’s your story so you can make it all up.  

If you decide to create your own paranormal world, your first consideration is that you must create a reasonable set of rules for your ghosts and their interaction with the living.  

If your psychic character is experienced, she should know those rules completely and not dotter around like an idiot.  

Most knowledgeable readers will forgive you if you create your own understandable world of spooks and the people who chase them.  

They will not forgive you if you break your own rules for plot expediency.

A middle ground is to use most of the common knowledge then add elements that are strictly of your own invention, such as a medium can only see spirits from a specific period.  

This is another situation where it’s best to understand the rules/current common knowledge then decide the direction you choose rather than being a lazy researcher and doing it your own way.  

Real World Research

Research is an iceberg.  There's a lot more under the water than is showing.  Insert metaphor here about the book being the Titanic if that research is wrong.  

The more the research appears on the page in the form of your main character/s, the more you need personal experience.  You can fake a SCUBA scene with research but not an entire book if your character spends a decent chunk of the novel underwater.  If needs must, have an expert read your book.  

If your personal life experience doesn't remotely connect with police work, a police procedural probably isn't the best mystery subgenre to write.  An amazing variety of mystery types and main characters are out there, and your own life experience and interests can enrich your books.  Find a genre that fits.  Your own emotional references should be considered, as well.  You may very well regret spending months or years in the viewpoint headspace of someone who is your polar emotional opposite.   

WORST RESEARCH SOURCES:  TV shows and novels.  

THE MOST INTERESTING OVERHEARD RESEARCH: Many years ago, Mom and I were at a hotel restaurant on the NC coast, and the room was full of big guys in high-ranking officer uniforms of all the military branches, and they were chatting away about things that should not be said in public.  I wasn't stupid enough to ask them questions and would never use that info, but dang!  

THE BEST ANSWER I HAVE EVER RECEIVED ABOUT WRITING FIGHT SCENES FROM A FEMALE VIEWPOINT:

Years ago, I had a chat with a world-class weapons and combat expert about fighting. (Science fiction and fantasy conventions are filled with military, police, and scientists who love to answer questions.)  I asked him who was the most dangerous opponent in a fight.

His answer-- “In a bar fight most men will keep fighting until they go down. Later, they’ll get up, and we might have a beer together. A small man doesn’t do that.

“To him, it’s not a fight, it’s survival. He’s fighting to kill because he knows he might not survive otherwise. If he goes down, he doesn’t stay down. He comes right back up and keeps fighting until he takes you down.

“He’ll use any weapon he can find to kill you, too.

“Never pick a fight with a small man.”

Quoting a Book on Your Blog

QUESTION:  I am interesting in posting a few paragraphs from a book I just read on my blog...as a synopsis of the book. I want to post about a paragraph from each chapter.  Is that legal? Of course, I would cite the book and author, etc. and make it clear that these are not my words, but the author's.

First, let me clearly state that I am not a lawyer of any sort so my advice won't protect your rear in a court of law.

Using quotes like you want to do is done all the time.  It’s considered fair use of copyrighted material.

Whether the publisher or author contact their lawyers depends on how easily p*ssed off the author and publisher are and how high profile you or the content/author are.  

In other words, if the NEW YORK TIMES quotes to summarize an important new book about a major political figure before or soon after the book is published so that the reader need not buy it, all legal hell will break lose.  

If you want to quote a few paragraphs in a book about writing that's been around a bit, I doubt anyone will call their lawyer although you may receive an email from the author requesting you remove the material.  As a courtesy, you should.

Methods of citation vary from the footnote style you learned in high school to the more casual method where the information about the book is included within the body of the work --

As John Exum Smith said in A BUNCH OF NONSENSE ABOUT WRITING, "Writers are the silliest creatures in the universe because they believe others will want to pay them for their imaginings."

If you are using the summary in a positive manner such as you are recommending the book, you are far less likely to run afoul of legal problems.  If you are pulling all the "meat" out of the book stew so others won't have to buy the book, you are much more likely to have a seriously angry author after your head.

All this advice really comes down to the Golden Rule.  If this were your book, would you want someone else to summarize it as you intend to?

For more information on fair use, I suggest this article:

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html