Write What you know about. Because it shows if you don't

Writing is like anything else. It's really hard to fake it. You have had the experiences you have had so unless you are making up some place that no one has ever seen before you have to be careful how you write so you don't just sound like a fool.

Of course sometimes you want to sound like a fool if you are into comedy as well. But, that's a whole different story.

I have found the last 72 years that often in life you have a choice of laughing or crying. So, often you have the choice of writing about what makes you cry (sort of as a personal therapy) or you can make people laugh about your suffering. Sometimes no matter what you do people are going to laugh at your suffering because they either have no empathy or their suffering is just so bad they don't know what else to do because they are only one day away from offing themselves as it is.

But, mostly I think if you don't concentrate on staying alive yourselves then you won't.

But, here's the thing. IF you want to keep other people alive (like children and other relatives and friends) YOU NEED to stay alive first so they can make it if you are the one they depend upon (either emotionally or financially or both).

So, I never was that interested in staying alive for me personally. So, until I had a wife and a son to think about suicide looked pretty good to me in my early 20s. But, after that I realized I had to stay alive for them both and eventually I needed to stay alive for my son especially when I was a single Dad for several years before I married again by about age 32.

So, writing for me at least is about creatively making life happy and interesting enough to keep yourselves and your children alive ongoing. For me, this has meant traveling as much as I could with my son and my daughters.

Since my son was older (he's now 46) traveling with him mostly was when he was single as traveling with your kids after they are married with children is more difficult with many more variables to consider.

So, traveling to Hawaii with all of my children was great when they were younger than about early 20s and still single. But now, two of my three biological children are married and my adopted daughter has already been married about 11 or 12 years now. 

So, I have been to Europe 3 times with one daughter and two times with the other biological daughter and have been to Hawaii with my adopted daughter about 20 years ago now. And I have been to Hawaii at some point with all my children mostly more than once now too.

The point of all this is write about what you know about and what interests you. This way your enthusiasm for what you know and have experienced burns right through your writing all or most of the time and touches your readers.

By God's Grace