Happy last day of March. What a fine day to welcome Maggie Toussaint. Spring is showing off in Georgia and it's about time! I knew letting Maggie choose her topic was brilliant. I knew I could trust her to say what we need to hear. I was right, and so is she. Welcome to the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers blog, Maggie. Take it away!
Write what you know 
By Maggie Toussaint
Write what you know. I can’t tell you how many times I heard this advice as a new writer, how many times I still hear it. Sure you can research to your heart’s content, but there’s nothing like knowing something, of having experienced it firsthand. When you convey that level of understanding, the words leap off the page.
That’s what writers, editors, and readers want.
A story that leaps off the page.
Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I decided to try this approach.
With an eye toward blockbuster sales, I listed my previous careers: aquatic toxicologist, technical writer, chemist, industrial hygienist, biologist, college student, golf course worker, movie house ticket sales… None of those screamed best seller. They’d been rather routine jobs.
Had I missed the point of write what you know? I was more than these job titles. I was a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend, a guitarist, and so much more. I’ve felt loss and injury and injustice and yearning for things I couldn’t have. I’ve marveled at a baby’s perfect fingers, hugged a sleeping puppy, and fried myself silly under the southern sun.
A resounding aha moment occurred. It sounded a bit like mental thunder, felt a bit like virtual lightning. Could writing 3-D characters really be so easy?
Once I changed my perspective, character possibilities rolled in like flood tide. I’d known the terror of being in a car careening through a ditch on two wheels. I’d known heartache from bad breakups with boyfriends. During my rebellious teen years, I’d inadvertently hurt myself and others with my behaviors. I’d been the mother of an unconscious child, despairing and praying.
A glittering universe of ideas beckoned.
I rolled up my sleeves and let the ideas flow.
The longing I felt to
, connect with my late father became the story seed for HOUSE OF LIES. The sisterly tug of war over jointly held property became SEEING RED. The shadowed woods where I kept losing my golf ball became the murderous setting for IN FOR A PENNY. And the financial black hole of keeping a nonprofit for horses going became NO SECOND CHANCE.
Were these entire books scripted from my life? No way. But the story seeds, the “what if” moments, came from an emotion attached to events I’d experienced.
Once I embraced emotional depth, characters yammered at me day and night. Don’t get me wrong - my friends and family aren’t poured onto the page verbatim. (Only my mother would read that!) Instead, I layer my characters taking a bit from this person a bit from that one. It’s like having an entire wardrobe of coordinating separates. You match them up, add a little attitude, and off you go.
Here’s what I learned. Write what you know and who you know. Do it in a way that is interesting and expressly you. Be real about the truths in your writing.
Agree or disagree? Leave a comment and your email addy. One lucky commenter will win the Maggie Toussaint book of their choice. The winner will be announced in the comment section of this blog, so check back by noon on Thursday to see if you won.
And, since I have your attention, two new Maggie Toussaint releases are on the horizon. MUDDY WATERS, a fall 2010 romantic suspense, features the secret passions of a small town. ON THE NICKEL, a March 2011 mystery, sprang from the indestructible car my daughters drove in high school.
Maggie Toussaint 
www.maggietoussaint.com
www.facebook.com/maggietoussaint
No Second Chance, buy a book, help a horse
ISBN 9781601541628 buy it: Amazon The Wild Rose Press Kindle
It's our turn to ask questions and I expect good ones.
Looks like the Pink Fuzzies are on a roll! Welcome Maggie and thanks for the thought provoking post. I'd always shied away from the "Write what you know" advice, because everything I knew was boring. This is a different take I can get a hold on. What was the most emotional character you created and what experience did you base it on?
Good question, Scarlet. A good way to start this day! HEY, MAGGIE!
MAGGIE--right up my alley! I only write what I know. I've always said, how could I write something based, say, in New Jersey? Or Santa Barbara? Since my head and my heart are filled with Texas trivia and Texana pieces, I don't have room for anything else. The trick is to make the seriously mundane into a emotional or funny story. I loved your take on this--and of course, You're On The Nickel.Celia
Marvelous post, Maggie! So glad to have you here at the Fuzzies. Such excellent insight and advice. The only hitch with writing what you know as a historical writer is researching an era I feel a strong attachment to (until I feel at home) and then applying all those other things you mentioned from myself to the past. You are a superb author and all around great gal. :)
Good morning! Thanks again to all the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers for inviting me to sit in today.
Scarlet asked which was the most emotional character I created. I get caught up in every character I write, so much so that when I turn a book in, I need to get a divorce from that character.
Still on the brain right now are Sloan and Roxie from my upcoming MUDDY WATERS. Sloan needed redemption and Roxie needed to prove herself, both had flaws and pasts that made this difficult. Sloan's still on my mind, very much so. He's the first "bad boy" style character I've written.
Thanks again for the warm welcome!
Great post, Maggie. I like to think of it as, "Write who you are." The stuff like bad breakups and grieving are important elements of infusing your work with emotion. Thanks for the reminder!
Valerie
valeriegbowman.com
Celia! Thanks for the first really big smile of the day. I think the fun thing for you might be fish out of water stories if you have your Texans venture out of state. They might enjoy spreading a bit of Texas throughout the country, or even the world.
Beth, Yes, research is still key for many stories, and you can still "write what you know" and layer it around research. I've never been a CIA agent, but I wrote about one because I understood what it was like to be so angry at someone you wanted revenge. No matter the setting or period, emotions are universal. A good writer can blend research and emotions to deliver a top notch story.
Great post, Maggie! I'm thinking of all your great jobs and how they could be perfect in a story! But I know exactly what you mean. When I was trying to write about a heroine who was an Army officer, no paranormal side to it, it wasn't working. The problem is it was too much like the real world. Boring. :) So instead, I use my experiences--firing a gun, rappelling, hand-to-hand combat, in a way that lends credibility in a werewolf story, but also in a fun and fantastical way. :)
I loved how you created books based on family!
Hey Valerie, I like your spin on it. Write who you are is good advice. Lots of possibilities there. And if you're like me, you've had difficult coworkers or rude encounters with people, great emotional fodder. I have an entire universe of people-moments swimming in the goo of my brain, just waiting to come out.
Good insight. I guess my early years in drama helped. I had all these characters inside of me yammering to get out. Believe me, when I was younger, I sometimes wondered if I had multiple personalities. Now, at least, I have somewhere to put them.
Hi Terry, Isn't funny how easily we can see the possiblities in someone else's mundane world? I think when you get bogged down in all the technical realities and red tape of what you do in a day job, the glamor of it escapes you. I write about family because family is important to me. We do have a bit of drama running through our veins.
And hey, PL Parker, good to see you. Like you, I'm glad of the release of fiction writing to stablize the characters pushing to come out. Drama training would have been a big help in my case. A friend of mine gave a workshop on Improv Techniques a few years back and it gave me a new lease on characters.
Yup. so agree, Maggie! But Stephen King also says "Write what you fear." I do that, too...
Hi everyone! Happy spring..
Hi, Maggie. It's great to see you here at the Fuzzies. Drawing from our own emotional past is a great way to make characters real.
Your stories lines sound interesting. Can you tell us a little more about them?
Oh, I like that, Hank. Great advice!
Hi, Maggie! Great to have you here. Your blog is right on the money. Interesting though, people are always so sure you're going to write about them and I, like you, find my characters are such a blend of people and experiences that I'm pretty sure I couldn't write a true biography. Thanks!!
Hi Maggie,
Wonderful blog and so true! I'm 1/2 way through reading Stephen King's, "On Writing," and it's one of the lessons of his book as well. I'm SO glad you blogged on this, and I hope those reading your blog will truly stop and give pause, think about the enormity of your words. Write what you know is truly about emotion. When you're real with your emotion, bleed it onto the page, it conveys via character to reader. This = the greatest impact, reader belief.
Thank you for your timely and wonderful blog. And another huge thanks for your constant inspiration. I wish you every success! *Hugs*
Diana
http://www.texomaliving.com/cosby-1
Catching up with a few commenters here:
Hank- write what you fear is excellent advice. We have such visceral reactions to the things we fear, that those emotions pour out of us.
Judy - I have some folks who read my books to see if they are in them. That's such a hoot. In an early book, I based a character on my mother -she never noticed because it wasn't exactly her, just some of her flaws exaggerated a bit for effect. I also write for a newspaper, so I have to very much stick to the facts there. I believe I could wrie someone's biography, but I'm not sure I'd want to.
Autumn - thanks for your interest in my books. I'm a hybrid writer, blending mystery, suspense, and romance. My titles are in many formats (ebooks, trade paperback, large print, hardcover)and I have buy links, excerpts, reviews, and covers at my website. www.maggietoussaint.com Click on over and check them out!
I'd like to hire Diana Cosby to be my publicist! Thanks for the accolades, Diana. I learned a lot of write what you know from you.
Maggie,
What a great blog! I was like you, too, in the beginning--kinda scary when people say "write what you know" and you are telling yourself "I don't know ANYTHING." LOL But as you say, that is really not true, and our books and ideas, no matter what sub-genre we write, come from experiences and thoughts and dreams that we have had in our own lives.
I wish you much success with your new ventures, and look forward to some wonderful reading.
Hugs,
Cheryl
Wow, Maggie. I've always heard the advice to write what you know, but I've never seen it explained so well. As usual, great blog.
Dianne Higbee
What wonderful advice! I actually do this but never put it into words. A life lived is the best source for all those deep feelings.
Barbara.Edwards2@yahoo.com
What a good morning so far! Hey, Hank. She's coming back to visit soon. Good job, Maggie, but I expected no less.
I hopped on over here from the WCP group. Glad I did.
Writing what I know, particularly from an emotional point of view, works well for me. What I don't know also works if I find someone who knows lots about what I want to know and is prepared to spend time sharing their knowledge, and of course, answering countless questions.
Maggie - you've hit the 'write what you know' nail right on the head!It's really a matter of taking the feelings we know - fear at the dentists, sorrow at a loss, anger at an injustice - and magnifying it until it fits the story we're telling. Taken literally, 'write what you know' would lead to some very boring tales - for me, anyway :-)
Great post!!!! Just the advise I was needing right about now.
Now I need to break my life down just like you did.
Thanks for this.
Tami
Cowabunga! I slip out to try to extract my protagonist from prison and there's tons of activity here! My gosh. I'm so flattered and tickled.
Hey to Cheryl Pierson, western author extraordinaire who stopped by and also to Dianne Higbee, an up and coming writer in the Jacksonville area.
Hullo to Barbara Edwards. It's neat that reading this gave you an insight into what you do. Funny how hearing things a slightly different way puts them in better context. I get realizations like this when I go to RWA chapter meetings.
Hi to Joy my fellow author at WCP. Sure it also works to tap into the emotions of the people you use as experts in your subject area. Unless you've been living in a rainbarrel, you will have known many of the same emotions, adding veracity to the expert's words.
Hi Glenys, Funny you should mention dentist. I was at my dentist's just yesterday. When I was a kid, I got so worked up about going to the dentist (soft teeth, low threshhold for pain, and many cavities) that my mom took me to a hypnotist. He taught me how to relax, a form of self-hypnosis in the dentist chair. I still use that today, and I get up from the chair feeling like I've just been to the spa. What a wonderful gift my mom gave me. Thanks for commenting.
Great post Maggie. Sometimes it can be the little things we've experienced that make our writing come to life.
Personally I've always told new writers to ignore this advice. If I only wrote what I know, I couldn't write about homicides or police detectives, since I've never been involved with any kind of major crime, I've never been a cop, The only crimes I've been involved in was doing drugs when I was younger, driving over the speed limit, and a few other sundry and very minor crimes. I've never even met a real gang banger or someone who did hard time in prison. I did meet one guy once who killed a woman I knew the same night I met him. Everything I write about for the most part is based on research and talking to people who do those things. I wouldn't be able to sell my books to my mother if I wrote only about what I know.
The write what you know philosophy also gave me pause because I didn't feel like my life had been the stuff that novels are made of. However, like you, I saw the advantage of my emotional past, plus I'm sometimes too empathetic so I understand emotions I may not have experienced personally. All those I try to infuse into my writing to engage the reader. After all, that's our goal, right?
Hi Tami and Janine, I'm glad you found this post to be helpful. I'm usually amazed at how a fresh perspective can breath life into something I thought was humdrum.
Maggie--what a great blog! I've always felt like this is what I do, stealing bits and pieces of my life but I like the idea of taking it beyond that into the emotional realm.
I welcome P. A. Brown's comments. Many people/authors are frustrated with write what you know. I suspect this is one of those things like pantsers and plotters where folks agree to do things differently.
However, since authors come to writing with different experiences (and shared, universal emotions), we also bring other skills. For instance, a friend of mine can completely visualize how a refurbished room will look before she buys a drop of paint. So, I submit to you, that someone who is strong in other sensory areas, such as visualization, can take research and experts, blend their input with a certain plot line, and generate interesting characters. There's still an element of write what you know buried in there because once you research a topic and apply life experiences, you know it. Or at least, that's my perspective.
Hullo to Carol Burnside and Rebecca Grace. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I think being empathic is both a blessing and a curse. I get strong feelings about something at times and get stuck in a rut. Thank goodness for critique partners who say enough with the repetition.
Hi Maggie! How wonderful that our leader has found you for today's blog. You are such a sweet thing. I can say this for sure having briefly met you. Going on the Muse Cruise in January next year?
Writing what I know. Interesting as everyone sees themselves in some character. Others see family and are angry. They don't get that you pick a piece of this and that and make a character that can be significant in the story. Ah well, they take what they want from it. Funny that people are commenting to me who haven't even read it. Family especially!
Nothing is boring when you see it in a new light.
What a great topic. This one is close to my heart because I've had a strange life. I didn't go to college and am not an expert on anything, but when you put it the way you did...I've worn many hats.
I got married way too young the first time. I've had more "in love" mistakes than I care to think about. I'm a mother, daughter, sister, wife, friend. And those are just normal things.
I think I unconsciously use this experience when writing, but looking at it in this light makes it more potent and adds a lot more potential.
I think people often don't give themselves credit for how much they know. :) (Some give themselves credit for knowing more than they actually do. grin)
Great post! Perhaps when I have a moment, I'll get back to my own writing projects and finish them. This certainly has inspired me. :)
Maggie, Writing what you know is just as you explained. Advancing that, I have never murdered or kidnapped anyone, but I can visualize anger and desperation from events in my life--just as you mentioned in a reply. I also loved Celia Yeary's comment. Us Texas gals think alike. LOL
Great blog and comments!
Hi Maggie,
Great post and great advice. I try to use places I've actually been as the settings for my books. It really helps me to see the place my characters will interact.
Great topic, Maggie! If I wrote what I know it would put readers to sleep faster than ambien. I'm definitely in the "write what you fear" group. Lucky for me, I have a lot of fear and never lack ideas.
Here I am!
Mary Rickensen - that cuise conference was lots of fun, but that was a special event for me. I'm flattered that you remembered me.
Hi Anita - never put your experiences down. We're all people at heart and you've had just as much living as the rest of us, more if your mistakes weigh heavily on your heart. Exorcise those bad memories. I can't tell you how many bad bosses I've killed off on paper.
And for Freya's Bower Anthology Authors - I am with you 100 percent. Folks need to cut themselves a little more slack about their life experiences.
Hey Caroline, There's just something about writers from Texas. They have a certain allure and bring to mind (for me at least) some of my favorite westerns. You guys keep writing those great Texas stories. I'm a fan.
Shoot. I misspelled Mary Ricksen's name. Sorry, fingers moving faster than my brain.
Hey Debra! I love your bookcover, btw. Like you, I tend to write about places I've been. My WIP has a lot of settings, including places I've not visited, so I'm counting on research and my jaded view of traveling to carry the day.
Hi Yvonne. Nothing like a little fear to motivate a person, even us writers. Thanks for stopping by.
My friend M.K. Trent couldn't figure out how to leave a comment so she emailed me privately. I'm pasting her comment here:
Brilliant! I know a lot of those same things you talked about, but I never thought of them in the context of writing what I know about. I always thought about my "paid jobs" as what I know. Of course, I've not written much having to do with my paid jobs. So in essence, I've done what you said, just didn't realize it. You have such great insight into things--wish I could look at things in the same gifted way you do.
MK Trent writes steamy contemporaries for The Wild Rose Press.
Thanks, MK, for your kind words.
Hi Maggie! Write what you know always sounds so basic and yet it is so necessary. You have to connect on a personal level with something that you are writing to make it feel real. That personal something is the small seed from which the rest of the story grows.
Thanks for coming by and joining the Fuzzies today!
"It’s like having an entire wardrobe of coordinating separates. You match them up, add a little attitude, and off you go." That so explains my work. Excellent! Thanks for the post.
I write what I dream (there are no vampires in my family--at least not the bloodsucking kind) but if you use your own experiences and those feelings manifest on the page, I think this also writing what you know.
Loved reading about your writing adventures.
Thank you, Joelle, Linda, and Nightingale for leaving comments.
Joelle, nothing like a personal connection to keep the pages a-turning.
And to Linda, my fellow "separates mixer and matcher" - thank goodness we have great fashion sense.
Good to hear there are no blood-sucking vampires in your family, Nightingale.
All you lurkers and latecomers, feel free to continue to post comments this evening. I'll check back tomorrow and announce a winner from the posts dated March 31.
What a great pink fuzzy slipper day!
What a wonderful post, Maggie! I've missed hearing your thoughts. Your experiences and advice always resound with me... :-)
Bess McBride
Hi Maggie,
I've never thought of myself as particularly interesting, so how could I write what I know? How boring would that be?
But I had a bit of an Aha moment when I read your blog. I think I've been putting a little of myself in my characters all along, at least in an emotional sense. Thanks so much.
Jana
Maggie great to have you drop by the Pink Fuzzies. Love the cover for your book. It looks very mysterious. How long does it take you to write a book? Do you work on more than one story at a time? What is your favorite place to write?
Melba Moon
President-elect KOD
Welcome to all the new folks and those of you who are familiar faces! I'm loving your contributions!
Mama Mary
Wow, the Fuzzies are really hopping today. Thanks for joining us, Maggie.
When I'm writing, I'm often surprised to find out what I know! Sometimes the characters feel so real that my heart is racing along with theirs! And when I don't know enough about the emotions I'm trying to convey, I just can't get emotionally engaged.
Maggie, it's so important to have a little bit of what you know in any story. It really gives that story a sense of authencity and realism. Thanks so much for your thoughts and encouragement.
*smiles*
Steph
Gosh, the good time keep rolling here! I'm going to hate for this Cinderella moment to stop.
Bess and Jana, Thanks friends for dropping in. Bess and I dipped into the moderator pool at a yahoo loop for a bit and she is always so supportive. Jana, I'm glad this take on write what you know was meaningful for you.
Hey Melba, Nice to meet you. It takes me about 6 months to write a book, and another 3 to edit it to my satisfaction. I have two part-time jobs so I have to stay focused to keep my writing time sacred. I try not to work on more than one story at a time, but when copy edits come back, there are some brain blowing times of two stories crammed into the head at once. I write in my office, but I think about what I'm going to write just about everywhere. Thanks for asking these questions. I hope to be invited back when my book comes out for more of an interview.
And hullo to Barbara and Steph. Thanks for stopping by.
Barbara, you put it so well. When you have that emotional connection with your character, the words keep flowing. When you lose it, there's a lot of teeth grinding going on.
Steph, I've enjoyed our friendship through the Book Spa and beyond. Thanks for all you do to encourage others.
AND THE WINNER OF A MAGGIE TOUSSAINT BOOK IS ...
ANITA CLENNEY!
Thank you all for your support and comments. I had lots of warm fuzzy moments here with the Fuzzy writers.
Remember that you are never boring. Each of you is unique and you take that with you whereever you go and whatever you do.
Thanks for the fun!!!
Maggie
www.maggietoussaint.com
Welcome, Maggie, to the Pink Fuzzies. I'm chiming in late, but thanks for the interesting post. Write what you know? I think my next manuscript will be about musicians.
Maggie, Thanks so much. Let's see...that makes you, Celia, me... we only need 29,097 other western fans now.LOL
Hi, Maggie,
Excellent post! Just when you think you've seen that one again, someone comes along and puts it in a whole new, VERY applicable perpective. I'll be referring to this one in the future--thank you!
Joanna Aislinn
NO MATTER WHY
The Wild Rose Press
www.joannaaislinn.com
www.joannaaislinn.wordpress.com
Wonderful post, Maggie, though I have made the scene a wee bit late. I totally get what you are saying. My first pubbed novel is a female cop(crime romance) and I had to really work hard at getting it all right because guess what? I'm NOT a cop, I'm an X-ray tech, LOL I researched, talked with every police woman or man I could and anyone who could give me gun and technical info. It was a whole ton of work.
Now I create my worlds and characters as paranormal fiction is so much easier. I make the rules in my magic and mayhem but I do use what and who I know always. Experiences and people, emotions and tragedy as well happy events are the golden threads sewn into every story to weave reality and believability.
Thank you for such a wonderful and motivating post.
Dayana~
I'm just chiming back in here to thank the folks that have left posts since Wednesday. I appreciate your comments and wish everyone great writing moments.
Happy Easter, All!