Observing and writing what you know
I recently read this article from the Christian Science Monitor about observation and writing what you know, Tips from a master of observation. The article is meant as writing advice for journalists, but I think these two disciplines have many similarities, and any screenwriter could benefit from the advice and insights of Gay Talese.
The main point I drew from the article was that you need to write what you know from your own perspective, write about what you have observed and seen through your eyes, rather than trying to see life through someone else’s. As a screenwriter, that may seem limiting. How can you write a movie about yourself and only what you know? What you know is most likely limited and boring. But what you now is probably what a lot of people know and can relate to. Not all successful films must involve espionage or fantastical jobs and situations no one has ever seen. Think about Office Space, Napoleon Dynamite, Fargo, Little Miss Sunshine and Clerks. All of those films were set in boring towns populated by ordinary people with average lives and jobs. Their experiences and their realistic portrayals of life were what made those films interesting, touching and humorous. You don’t have to know what it’s like to be a billionaire living in Paris and working as an undercover agent to write a good screenplay. Most people will relate to the life of a convenience store clerk more than they will to the Parisian playboy, and if you write your story with the authenticity that your experiences have given you, it will speak to readers and audiences more than a phony attempt to write about something you don’t know or understand.
This doesn’t mean you must write only about what you’ve done so far. If you want to write about something grander, go out and do it. You can experience the things you want to write about (see my article on Experiences Add Authenticity). You can volunteer or get a temporary job doing something your character does that you never have. You can travel and experience other places than where you grew up. It’s important that you know and understand the careers, industries, people and places you wish to write about. While I firmly believe you can and should write beyond what you know, the more you experience and know first-hand, the better.
