Mitchell's Help Guide - Chapter 2

The second partttt!

I have never written a novel in my life, this is the closest I have gotten. Erm I mean.. that was the meth talking, not me. So... Let me continue.

One of the biggets faux-paws in writing is to be told to:

"Write what you know."

Let me disprove this shit right here, right now!!!!

A worked example:

I write a novel about a mermaid who swims to the desert and has an affair with a unicorn.

So...

1. I am not a mermaid, nor do I have the kowledge of what it is like to be one.

2. I have never been to the desert either

3. Unicorns don't exist. (sorry to disrupt all the dreams of the emotional fuckwits out there who did believe in them.)

Anyways, this just shows that you don't have to know everything about everything to be a writer. You can't even know about mermaids properly because they are made up. And all these folk tales are subjective. If you take the original Hans Christian Andersen story (the one where she dies at the end) SPOILER and then you compare it to the Disney version then...

TIS LIKE TWO DIFFERENT STORIES WANKERS. It's more about interpretation.

The point about this is that, I could research it. I could gain the knowledge about the topic and then use THAT in my writing.

"Writing is a process that also involves learning."

If you consider all the things you already know about, JUST the things you already know about, then you may find it quite a narrow spectrum. The adage of writing what you know seems to suggest limits. Which, as we discussed in the first chapter, is not a good idea when being creative. Be chaotic, do away with limitations. Express yourself.

Because let's face it, if no one ever broke any boundaries, any conventions... how would we ever come up with anything new?

'I believe it's my distorted view of reality that gives way to originality.'

As it happens, I know quite a lot. Having been a drug dealer. A movie director and a porn star. It's quite important for me to diversify myself. But I never reject the opportunity to learn more, because I need to develop. I have the thirst for progress. And you gits all need that too if you're going to get anywhere.

Again, sticking with the Harry Potter example. Rowling knew a lot about Greek mythology and shizz. I mean, for fuck's sake, she didn't even make up the idea of the Philosopher's Stone. It already existed! Check your history books people. So don't be afraid of researching. It's not robbing you of creative time. It IS part of your creative time. And you need to use it well.

How To Be An Effective Researcher

1. get organised - and file all the research you do

2. if it already exists a work, don't plagiarise it

3. check your sources, because everyone knows what's written on the internet is not reliable.

4. finally, stick to what is relevant, unless you want to create something people won't understand.

To conclude the point of this chapter then:

You may know a lot, or a litte, but you need to learn more. The more you know, the more you can write about. So start widening your horizons bitches. Or you're going to have very limited writing capacity within the confines of the write what you know suggestion. In other words:

'Don't write about what you do know, write about what you don't know yet.'

Chapter 3 will explain: Why Writer's Block Doesn't Exist.