I’d like to welcome Rick Chesler to Mystery Writing is Murder. Rick holds a Bachelor of Science in marine biology and has had a life-long interest in the ocean and its creatures. When not at work as an environmental project manager, he can be found scuba diving or traveling to research his next thriller idea. He currently lives in Honolulu, Hawaii with his wife, a cat and some fish. His book, Wired Kingdom, was released May 2010.
First of all, thanks to Elizabeth Spann Craig for having me as a guest on Mystery Writing is Murder! I thought I would write a bit about how our backgrounds can influence our writing. The old cliché says, “Write what you know,” but I can’t help but feel if everyone did that, literature as a whole would be shortchanged. The whole point of writing and reading is to imagine things you haven’t experienced before, to explore new worlds, concepts and personalities.
That said, it does help to be writing about something to which you have some sort of connection. Arthur Conan Doyle was not a professional detective himself, but his medical school training and work experiences enabled him to imagine in fantastic realism the intricate details of those famous fictional cases. Did you know that while in med school, Doyle took a position as a ship’s surgeon on a whaling vessel that sailed to Greenland?
As a marine biologist, I’ve never even seen a blue whale (although I’ve been in the water with other kinds of whales), much less tagged and swam with one, but in my new thriller/mystery WIRED KINGDOM I’ve managed to do just that. Having a foundation in marine science enables me to write with some semblance of authority, and to incorporate a few technical details that add realism to the story. It’s not exactly what I would call, ‘write what you know’ but more like ‘write what you can convincingly get away with.’ Real life can be a bit…well, mundane at times, right, so the point is perhaps to take the familiar and make it unfamiliar, to infuse our sense of normalcy with an element of excitement.
But exactly how this element is introduced is critical. The devil is in the details, as they say, and to be able to negotiate those details a writer needs some background and experiences to draw upon. Sure, research helps, but there’s a big difference between someone researching something they know nothing about for the first time and researching based on past experience and knowledge to clarify details.
With research based on past experience, anything becomes not only possible, but convincingly, even alarmingly so. A seemingly random killing in a small town that exposes the strange interrelationships of its residents, perhaps, or a whale tagged with a webcam that films a murder at sea. Anything that expands upon a writer’s background and experiences in such a way that it fills the story with convincing detail and vivid realism. For me, some of the background that would find its way into WIRED KINGDOM began with my personal experiences of scuba diving around the world. You can check out some of my diving videos here:
http://www.affairedecoeur.com/blog/?p=79
So, while there certainly doesn’t need to be a direct connection between the writer and the work, most of the time there will be some past history with at least one element of the story. We’ve all heard of M.D.’s writing medical thrillers and lawyers writing legal thrillers, but there are successful examples of these types of books written by non-professionals, too. The goal of the novel first and foremost is to entertain; everything else is a distant second.
I’d like to close by saying that I’m happy to answer any questions or to engage in further discussion in the comments section. Also, for those who’d like to find me or my book, here are my key links:
Author site
WIRED KINGDOM book trailer
Facebook fan page
Thanks again for having me!
Good point, Rick. If we only write about our absolute knowledge then of course we won’t grow as a writer. But we should probably write some of what we know, why waste it, right? Great info. I’m trying not to hate you because you live in Honolulu. :)
Thanks for hosting, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth – Thanks so much for hosting Rick.
Rick – You’ve written about a very important balance between having a solid foundation of our own background, and adding new things. I think some of the wonder of writing about what we can imagine as well as what we know adds to the reader’s interest in the book.
Good post. I think you’re right that if writers only wrote about what they know, we as readers would be shortchanged. You make some interesting points and your book sounds intriguing. Best of luck.
Elizabeth, thanks for introducing me to Rick.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Good point. I’ve no experience in a fighter jet, but I’ve worked with those who do fly, which helped with my book.
I agree! Taking what we know and expanding upon that knowledge and experience.
This is a wonderful interview. My son wants to be a marine biologist. He reads lots of textbooks on the oceans and its creatures.
It must truly sadden you to see what’s happening in the gulf of Mexico.
I will check out your book.
CD
‘write what you can convincingly get away with.’
I LOVE that. I agree with you completely that books would get boring if all we ever got were things people had experienced–I mean many writers might have ONE GOOD real life tale in them, but imagination has to bend and twist things. I really admire fantasy or sci fi writers that can go so far out of reality though, and STILL make it believable. I find I need to have SOME of the things be solid, reality based things I can really grab onto–then I feel freer to just sort of freeform the rest.
I agree that we should try to incorporate interesting jobs and hobbies whenever we can, but I also know I would grow terribly bored if I only wrote what I know so thank you for this post!
And on a similar note:
How background noises influence our writing: I have been busy plotting tonight, a murder which takes place while the English team scores a goal in football. I wonder where that came from? :D
Experience is a powerful teacher. When you wrote about scuba diving I thought of Clive Cussler’s books. Using common knowledge just isn’t enough to write a great book. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend.
Stephen Tremp
Hi, Rick – being married to a marine mammal scientist, I’m already wondering if we have mutual acquaintances. But you’re right–it’s knowing what you don’t know and then researching it that’s important. Taking anything for granted is where you’ll hit snags.
Thanks for having Rick guest post, Elizabeth. This is very interesting to me, because I love writing about stuff I don’t know and want to learn.
And Elizabeth, I have an award for you at my blog post today. Please stop by when you have a minute…
Mahalo, all, for your comments!
Clarissa: the Gulf situation is indeed sad, but at least it has the attention of the nation focused on our critical energy situation, especially our reliance on risky oil sources–both physically risky, as we see in the Gulf (needing to drill in deep water because the ‘easy’ oil has already been depleted), and politically, with our dependence on oil from foreign countries who do not have our best interests at heart).
Stephen: I’ve been a Cussler fan myself for decades!
Thanks again to Elizabeth for having me on!
Rick, thanks again for guest posting today! Best of luck with your new release. :)
Terry: “knowing what you don’t know” is an excellent way to put it!
Once again, thank you all for your feedback on this great blog!
Thanks for this post, Rick!
I write historical fiction. It’s hard to really know the topic beyond studying it; however, the setting is my hometown (a hundred years ago) and a city where my ancestors were born (France.)
I think a great deal of the ‘write what you know’ creed depends upon what you’re writing. Non-fiction? Yes, write what you know. Fiction? Well, it’s called ‘fiction’ for a reason. :-)
People will naturally tend to write what they know, I think, so the creed is rather moot. Why would someone write about ancient China if they’re interested in horse riding? They’re far more likely to say, “Hey! I’m going to write a book about a horse race.”
Thanks for sharing this! :-)
– Corra
The Victorian Heroine