Things I learned from NaNoWriMo #11 (#nanowrimo)

#11 Write what you like.

Forget about writing what you know. Write what you like. No Plot No Problem suggests writing up a list of your favorite things from the very specific (sassy old people who may be wiser than you might think) to the more general (love triangles, kittens) from books, movies, TV whatever. The stuff on this list is what you will be good at writing. If you get stuck, pick something from that list and throw it into the story. Your love for the topic will be like a cheat sheet for writing about it.

By the same token, don’t write in things you hate. I cannot stand movies where the guy falls in love with another girl right before he is about to get married to the first girl and then decided to just marry the original girl because she is the safe choice. I HATE that. Hence, I would be terrible at writing it because, since I don’t like it, I don’t understand it and thus would not be good at writing it.

Writing what you know is also handy. It is much easier to write about a cubicle monkey if you are one but it can also be creatively stifling if you feel like your character cannot do anything you yourself have experienced. Use your personal experience to get in a good paragraph of description of the main character’s room but don’t let it hold you down if you feel like the room should eat him.