Write What You Read: Musings on the Writer/Reader Connection

Though not as well known as the often misunderstood “write what you know,” most writers have also heard the “write what you read” axiom frequently enough for it to have sunk in. I accepted that axiom without question on the basis of finding your audience. Who better to connect with than readers who have the same taste as you do?

To be clear, I am not saying the axiom is invalid by any means. However, I realized this weekend that neither is it as all inclusive.

I am an eclectic reader, something you might have noticed from the books I review. I have a wide variety of interests and am always up for trying something new.

Off the top of my head, a list of books I read in the last twelve months cover at least the following: biography, history, historical fiction, historical fantasy, urban fantasy, contemporary romance, philosophy, science fiction, women’s fiction, and speculative young adult. As a writer, I am similarly broad, writing fantasy, science fiction, romance, literary, historical fiction, contemporary young adult, speculative young adult, historical fantasy, and writing-related non-fiction.

While there are many crossovers between my reading and my writing, there is one huge gap:

I love reading historical retellings, books where the author fills in the shadows of the historical record based on knowledge of that time period to bring history to life. The good ones give you a sense of being there while also teaching you something of history you might not have learned before. I discovered exactly how Harold the Green was killed by William the Conqueror not through any class but through a historical novelization. After reading that, I was fascinated enough to check the historical record and discover it to be accurate, but it was the kind of detail unlikely to make the school textbooks that yet raised the urge to learn more.

A well-written historical fantasy or historical fiction can bring you to that sense of place and culture. It can explore aspects of the social conventions and the like. But it takes a historical retelling to teach the reader something about history.

So feeling as I do about historical retellings, and about history itself, what better use of “write what you know” than for me to choose a story from history and bring it to life?

Which is where the axiom breaks down.

I’ve written historical fiction that shows glimpses of characters in history, I wrote a purely fictional account of Anne Boleyn on the way to her beheading, and I have written stories contained within a non-contemporary period that has no crossover with dignitaries of the time (you can read one of my historical fantasies, Forged online). However, I do not write historical retellings.

You might think this is because I’m lazy, but my extensive historical reading doesn’t support that. Nor does my study of What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew to make sure my Regency romance had no glaring flaws. This realization, though, made me ponder the reasons, and I think I understand.

I don’t write historical retellings as a rule because they’re someone else’s story.

To write a historical fantasy or historical fiction requires a lot of research and a real sense of place to be good. But both of these allow you to find characters doing what you want to write about and to explore their story as it unfolds. Historical retellings, on the other hand, take an existing story–as little or as much is available to document it–and flesh out all the empty places with the goal of bringing that moment in history alive. They are books where reading the end notes is critical since it will detail how far and where the author took liberties with what is known, but ultimately they follow the actual events as much as possible.

I have done significant work as a developmental editor. I don’t have any difficulty slipping into an author’s world close enough to see the seeds they’ve put in place–even when they don’t see them–and to suggest paragraphs, or whole scenes, necessary to bring the story to its fullest while staying within their voice. The biggest compliment I received from a client was when I had moved a section of her book to an earlier place for continuity and timeline. She was so used to my ability to mimic her style that she didn’t recognize the scene as her own rather than something I’d added.

So, it’s not the fleshing out of someone else’s story that is beyond me, nor do I have issue with taking the bones of a historical event and building new muscle around them.

Ultimately, I think the problem lies in that fleshing out someone else’s story (whether a client’s fiction or detailed in the historical record) feels like editing for hire not writing. I’d prefer to take a setting and introduce a story whole cloth with characters of my own imagination. I’m happy to work with authors to bring their stories to the next level. I’m thrilled to read historical retellings that entertain while enhancing my understanding of a time period. But as a writer, I prefer to let the story come to me out of the murky depths of my subconscious, even when constrained by the requirements of a specific period. Writing is about exploring the questions that strike me on a gut level. Reading is about learning and enjoyment, but the questions are only mine after they resonate.

And having said this, I will now come across a historical record that begs to be given flesh on top of muscle and bone, so I’m open to the possibility, but as of yet, I do write what I read, but not all of what I read.

How about you? Do you read something for enjoyment that does not hold the same draw for writing?

This entry was posted in History, Inspirations, Muse, Writing Process. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Write What You Read: Musings on the Writer/Reader Connection

  1. Erin says:

    So we will not be seeing any secret histories from you any time soon, hmm?

    As for me, it would be nonfiction — I love reading things like The Lost City of Z, but I’m unlikely to write anything even vaguely like memoir. My nonfiction is limited to my blog and the simplest of how-to articles.

    • Margaret McGaffey Fisk says:

      Sorry, but only if they’re so secret they’re all made up :).

      And I’m the same on the non-teaching material non-fiction, though I’ve written a memoir short piece or two.

  2. I mostly read nonfiction, especially science and technology. I earned my living writing nonfiction — computer manuals — for more years than I want to think about, but I have no desire to do it now. I had thought about writing technology articles for the boomer market as a way to supplement our income, but while I have the knowledge and skills, I couldn’t work up any interest.

    I love to read detective fiction, both cozies and forensics, but until recently I couldn’t write one to save my life. I don’t know whether it was a mental block or something I had to learn, but recently I’ve been able to break through at least somewhat and write stories that have a mystery subplot. Ghost mysteries, a la Heather Graham. It’s fun.

    • Margaret McGaffey Fisk says:

      Hmm, that’s an interesting thought. So the things we read might be building up an unconscious understanding that, when complete, breaks out into stories? Nice :). Of course I still probably won’t be writing a historical retelling any time soon.

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