BY ERIC WHITE
Every author has this point hammered into their creative little skulls: Write what you know. This wisdom is expounded in every book and blog even remotely related to the writing craft. It is tweeted, posted, and shared by authors ad infinitum daily.
Now, this advice is proven and true. But I can see some of you, curled in your writing chairs nervously chewing on your pens or thrumming your fingers across the faces of your laptops, squirming at the thought.
I can read your thoughts, did you know that? Authors have a strange sort of telepathy.
You are thinking “The closest I’ve come to the big city is watching CSI: New York. World traveler? Try neighboring-state traveler. And my life in the fast lane rolls past the drive-through at McDonalds. What do I know that anyone would want to read?”
Don’t sell yourself short, my excellent friends.
I have lived my entire life in small towns in southern Illinois. My experiences fall short of the grand and extravagant. Some would describe them as mundane.
But it is these day-to-day experiences, the nostalgic memories of childhood, and the slow yet intricate workings of an average life that will resonate with your readers the most.
When the reader hears his or her life echo in your words across the printed page, the magic of writing truly begins.
My short story “The Music Man”, one of nine supernatural stories in Xchyler Publishing’s Shades and Shadows: A Paranormal Anthology, comes out this Halloween. It is filled with my childhood: Saturday morning cartoons, bike rides to grandma’s house, catching fire flies in mason jars, and even a sleepover at my cousin’s house by the lake.
These are average experiences. But they are emotionally rich to me. And when writing about them, that emotional wealth shines through. It resona
tes. It makes a connection. And it becomes the key that unlocks the door to the amazing story I want to share with you. The actuality of it gives the supernatural verity.
See, you’ve already taken my hand. We’re walking down a familiar street. Oh, yours might go by a different name than mine, but that’s not what’s important. It’s the connection. We’ve been here before. I want to show you something, just beyond that flickering street light at the corner you’ve turned down many times. Something you’ve never seen before. Something curled down in the dark.
Eric White has spent his life pretending things into existence. He desires to share stories that not only resonate in the nostalgic memories of the reader, but also reveal the light and dark of what is hidden behind the thin veil of reality. When not writing, Eric is a para-professional for children with special needs.
Eric’s short story, “The Music Man”, is featured in the upcoming paranormal anthology, Shades and Shadows, slated for release October 31, 2013.