It’s one of the most famous sayings about writing – “Write what you know”. But is it as clear-cut as that? If I had to stick to writing what I know, my writing would end up very boring indeed, as I mostly experience a classroom full of 10-year-olds who don’t always want to learn.
Today, I started writing a new book. Ambitious, you may think, but it’s only a picture book. (Actually, I shouldn’t say “only”, as it’s proving nearly as tricky to write as any of my other books despite the reduced word count!) But it’s made me wonder why I think I’m qualified to write a picture book for five-year-olds; apart from once being five myself, my contact with this age-range is limited to occasionally seeing them in assembly.
So I’m not claiming to be an expert on what young children write, but I’ve had a desire to write this series of books for a while. That’s in addition to the travel book I’m working on, the fantasy fiction I started eleven years ago and the teen-fiction book about a girl with BDD. Which is, thinking about it, an example of my art imitating my life – I have always moved quickly from one thing to another, always doing okay, or sometimes quite well, at something but never quite mastering it.
I am a jack of all trades. Master of none.
In order to fulfil my dream of becoming a published author, should I not concentrate on one genre of book? At least until I am established? I can think of few authors who span different sections in the bookshop and all those I can think of (Iain Banks/Iain M Banks, Alexander McCall Smith, Jasper Fforde, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaimon…although I’m sure there are others!), all of them were successful with one genre of book to start with. Those authors I idolise (JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, Trudi Canavan) have all focussed on just one area of fiction and mastered it.
So I am wondering, now, if I am destined to be a jack of all trades for the whole of my life…working in different places, learning different instruments and sports and new skills, writing about anything that comes into my head…and actually mastering none of them.
What to I have to do to become a Master at writing?
Dreaming of Writing... 