This is my yellow cheek Amazon parrot, Jasper. We adopted him in 1999 when he was 5. He may be green and yes he has wings, but that is the only similarities between a bird and him.
He is the basis for my children’s book that I am in the process of fine tuning
My son has been coming up with these phrases that have made me think that he has missed his calling. My son has been coming up with these phrases that have made me think that he should be a writer.
We were driving to get some breakfast and I took a wrong turn. We came across a dead end street that was full of trees that seem to climb up all the way up to the skyline. It was very dark considering it was before 9am. Without missing a beat he stated, ” It is so dark and dreary, a serial killer could be a monk here.”
A week later I was telling him how some of his quotes are excellent examples of how to show and not just tell. I went on to say he had a great voice. Granted I meant in terms of writing.
He piped up and said, “I don’t have an inner voice. I have a Jiminy Cricket.”
I have decided to write a story based on his first statement. I have also decided to start writing down his sayings in a journal. His brilliance is just to good to be forgotten.
When I started writing, a common piece of advice I heard was “Write about what you know”. With me being me, I always thought that sounded like a cliche. It couldn’t be that simple. I mean writing was an art form that took time and patience as well as skill. I embarked on writing my first book based on my parrot, Jasper. It seemed to flow in my mind and on paper. Once it was completed I placed it aside and started on other projects which were mostly short stories. It seemed at that point what worked for me was writing prompts that would give me a good start on a nice story. But, in my readings I kept coming across that bit of advice I had heard from the beginning- write on what you know. Yeah it took a while, but I decided to try that.
The squirrels in my back yard and I have a love and hate relationship. In other words, we tolerate each other All I had in front of me was this one idea. Then I started to list all the reasons why these furry critters from hell bothered me so. Soon enough a story started to form. What I ended up with was a 10 page handwritten story. Funny though the story is constantly being revise to add more reasons. Hmm, since this worked so well I thought to try it again.
What happened next was a 20 page handwritten story about my tooth that was giving me fits. I eventually named the tooth Hank and wrote the story from his point of view.
It finally dawned on me: one doesn’t need to know a volume of information on a particular topic. All one needed was an idea. One sentence, and knowing about that sentence, can blossom into stories that have made my friends laugh. This revelation opened my eyes up to a world of stories that I did not know I possessed.
Writing on what you know is such a simple concept. Yet, so many writers tend to gloss over when hearing that phrase just like I did. If we just sit down and take a few minutes, the ideas will flow off the page.
To date, that has been the best writing advice I have ever received. When people ask me where do I get my ideas I give them this advice. Stop what you are doing and just look around. Think on what you know, think on what you like or what you don’t like. Think from different POVs. Going from third to first will completely change a story, the same story you know something about.
Nothing is ever easy. However this advice is.
Write on what you know. It is that simple.
Sharon C. Williams-Author 