Early on as a writer, I must have internalized the phrase “write what you know” and not looked back.Article continues after advertisement
My characters always seem to end up as extensions of me, living in small towns like the one I grew up in, with careers I know well (writer, teacher). They love rainy days and a pint of beer and hate jogging strollers and afternoon appointments. I have drawn from my travels; my experience with love and happiness and grief and loss. My interests, too. Old cars are everywhere in my books. Pets. Characters fixing up houses. I have listened to other people’s stories and observed their behavior, and all of that has made it into my writing. It doesn’t limit you to write what you know if you keep extending what it is that you know.
But there were things I just didn’t know about my newest book, The Top of the World. To write it, I had to confront my research avoidance. Which is how I ended up accidentally writing a historical novel.
There’s a reason I don’t like to do research. I like to see progress, a task that’s concrete. I like to cross my arms and look at the clean garage and admire the transformation once I’d pulled out all the clutter and put things back on shelves. Or stare at the pile of weeds I pulled from the garden before gathering it all up. And the same is true with my writing.
