Let’s say you are new to this writing game.  When you get the urge to write, what do you write about?  You want to do a terrific job on a story and be really creative.  Do you write science fiction about blue polka dot people on Rigillios Three?  Do you spend untold hours in frustration trying to engineer a completely fanciful world?  Do you engage the services of a dozen professionals who work in the arena that you have decided to throw your hat into like established writers (with money) always do.  Maybe you do.  Maybe if you are really lucky you have friends,willing to regale you with stories, at no charge, who have been in the environment you want to write about (although if it is Rigillios Three, I suspect you might want to look for other advice if not other friends!)

There is an old writer’s adage that is especially important for new writers to learn:  “Write what you know.”  It makes so much sense, and yet new writers so often resist this wisdom and instead launch out into projects that seem intriguing but are extremely difficult to accomplish for even the most seasoned authors.  There is still a need for a taxing amount of imagination in writing a compelling story in a setting you are familiar with, let alone one that is totally foreign.  You’ll have your hands full, but at least you’re on familiar territory.

If you pass out Big Macs, there is a story there.  If you mow lawns on weekends, there is a story there.  If you sell dresses at JC Penney’s you have lots of options for a good story line.  Consider that mass murderers have shot up more than one fast food place, shoplifters with serious mental issues inhabit department stores, and it’s amazing the people and actions you can see going on in the neighborhood as you are raking and mowing lawns.  Now you have an environment you can really envision.  If you have problems and get stuck with your imagination, you can actually just go sit with your laptop and people-watch the patrons at the Golden Arches, or peek into a few front yards in your block for actions and ideas.  Imagery details flow much easier and often ideas for action are played out right before your eyes.  A little fictional twist here and there and suddenly you have a story. 

What story lines have you imagined in your own little sphere of the world?  What are favorite stories you've read that have obviously used this technique?  Think about the great literary authors who have done this—Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, Ernest Hemingway.  Obviously this concept works!  The world is full of stories--don’t think that the ordinary people and places of your life are off limits.  Go write about them. 

Now, don’t despair…you can still write about Rigillios Three if you really want to…but how about transporting those wacky McDonald’s regulars there?

How do you decide on what point of view to write in?  Do you wish the intimacy of a first person narrative or the objectivity of a third person voice that is neutral and all knowing?  With newer writers it is often easier to write in the first person, but it does, at the very least, hamper the ability for a main character description.  First person descriptions of the main character can especially seem forced and egotistical if not handled well.  Sometimes there's hardly any practical way for some self-descriptions to come out of the mouth of that character that doesn't make it sound out of place.  On the plus side, first person narration gives you a unique opportunity to carry on inner dialogues in the mind of that character that can be quite entertaining and not easily carried out by an omniscient narrator.  How have you handled these kinds of choices in your writing?  What kinds of problems have you encountered and how did you solve them? .