Write What You Are

Sometimes budding writers don’t know what or who to write about. If you’re stymied by a lack of inspiration in the “what or who” categories, take a moment to imagine yourself in the story, both as a character and as someone experiencing the new world you desire to create.

Many authors have fielded questions about which character is their character. The truth is that the writer is every character, from philosopher to villain to magician to hero. When you allow your mind to “become” a character, you can see, think, feel and do (in your imagination) what that character would do.

This is a popular technique with actors. It’s not enough to know your lines and take your mark. You must have a running dialogue in your head while delivering your lines, a dialogue that gives “meatiness” to your character and meaning to their words and choices.

This kind of mental fingerprint makes a character real, to both author and reader. It is easier to develop such knowledge about character if we stop worrying, scribbling and trying to meet deadlines.

Relax, lock yourself in the bathroom, and find a way to connect with your inner self where interruptions are more rare than common. When you do this, the “what and who” information you need will simply flow into your mind, with harmony and fascination.

Then, you can clearly and powerfully write what you are!