Writing What You Don't Know

Salila has a huge growth arc in books #2 & #3 of the Amassia Series

Updated from an earlier work on the Voyager Blog 2011

The adage write what you know works fine for how-to manuals, cookbooks, auto repair guides or medical text. With these genres, writers need a certain level of expertise, and the goal is to share it. You can also write what you know in Fiction, even Fantasy where the sunset, the stars, the feel of the wind in your hair as you gallop down the road can come from personal experience.

Wonderful Paranormal YA 

But, what about the monsters, the genies, the aliens, the polymorphs? No one on Earth can know, for example, what a phantom (from Crown of Bones) is like, or a Mar who dwells under the sea.  That is, until the author creates such things from their blank page. Sometimes that process can be a challenge so wanted to revisit these four quick tips I find helpful for writing what you don’t know.

Tip #1: Research. If you have a world that focuses on UFOs and the history of our relationship to extraterrestrials, you don’t have to work at SETI to write it convincingly (just ask Vanessa Barneveld with her new release Under the Milky Way). You do have to know what the current climate is on the subject and the historical references to things like alien abductions. In other words, do your research. Second-hand knowledge is invaluable here.

Tip #2: Savvy proofreaders. Research can take the place of direct experience, especially in world-building and other historical facts, but there are exceptions. Horses are one. If you don’t know horses, you can learn about them, but if they are going to do more than graze in the paddock, you’ll need a proofreader with horse sense to check your work. Readers who are also riders will spot ineptitude a mile away. Jolt! If it’s going to be a feature in your novel, get an expert to proof and/or offer technical advice. 

Practising Iaido for fight scenes

Tip #3: Hands-on. If you’re going to give some art, animal, dance, ritual, music or machine a big role in your script, immerse in it, hands-on! As a bonus, your life will become richer for the experience. In my first three series, I researched quantum computing, aquatic humans, physics theory, geo-engineering, bio-engineering, shadow projection and were-animal/shapeshifting mythologies. 

I also joined a local dojo and learned to wield a sword. Already on board were things like felines, horses, witchcraft, magic, astrology, SCUBA, gender studies and astral travel. I wove together the elements that were second nature to me with the ones I studied and learned. Anything else, like falconry, firearms and river rafting, was proofread by experts in the field.

Belair LOVES Ochee tea
based on Chi!

Tip #4: Start with a grain of truth. No matter how wild and farfetched a fantasy story becomes, a grain of truth is what you build on. It's what will give your prose more weight! In my most recent series, Amassia, a main character takes my love of the sea and turns it into an environment where those with very similar DNA to ours can exist, almost indefinitely. 

I also examine the notions of the unconscious and expand them into larger-than-life subpersonalities and talk and talk and interact with us. In earlier novels, I look at possible results of geoengineering that might do more harm than good. It’s all about the speculation but begin it with something real.

How do you express what you don't know in convincing ways? I'd love to hear more!

xxKim (aka A K Wilder)

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Kim Falconer, writing YA Fantasy as A K Wilder, is the author of Crown of Bones, book #1 in the Amassia Series. The sequel, Curse of Shadows, is due for release in June 2022.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

You can Throw the Bones, read your monthly horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site or just drop a comment to chat. See you there!

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