Did You Know I Met Moses?

I saw a joke on the ACW Facebook where three people were advertising their books, the first two stated proudly they’d thoroughly immersed themselves in their subject, experiencing everything first-hand before writing their books while the third person, who’d written a murder mystery, looked rather bemused. It made me chuckle but it got me thinking.

Is writing more authentic if we, as writers, experience what we’re writing about? Should we stick to only what we know or can we simply learn everything from Google? I mean, it’s so easy now to research anything these days!

Do writers even have a choice? Once writers get a name for themselves they can often be commissioned to write on subjects they know little about which they accept because they need to put bread on the table. I remember a good few years ago listening to a very talented author speaking about their books; meaty, cleverly written, very grown-up, knowledgeable books. This author was passionate about their subject. However, they had also been commissioned to write a series of books for girls about ponies which they were not excited about but needed to earn a living. I wonder if those pony books were actually much more difficult to write because that author had to research and write something they didn’t really care about?

I’m not criticising this author, far from it. In fact, I admire them for taking on something so topsy-turvy to their usual genre and style and, like I said, one needs to pay the bills.

So, do we have to commit murder to write a good crime novel? Do we have to have an affair in Italy before we create an Italian lover? Do we need to time travel back 4000 years to write about the plight of the Israelites?

As a reader, I would say yes. The author is taking me on a journey I haven’t been on before and they’re my guide. They describe Moses as though they’ve met him, the Italian lover as though this was indeed their own love, and the murderer? Personally, I’d rather not go there but yes, the murderer needs to be genuine.

As a writer, I would say, of course not! But enough research, imagination and passion can make our writing brilliant enough to fool our readers into believing we’ve been through it all! Did you know I first met Moses time when he came to our village? Dust clung to his hair and robes, grime smeared his dark weathered skin but his eyes shone like two vibrant stars…