(Part of the Shadowfax Author Series: Writers on Writing)

by S. T. Finn

We’ve all heard the adage: “Write what you know.”

Many people take that advice literally, but it also works for stories that take place in other realms or galaxies far, far away—as long as you’ve done thorough world-building and you know your world, inside and out.

In other words, you have to know the science you use in science fiction and the elements of magic in your fantasy world. If you don’t, the rest of the story will fall apart, or simply fall flat.

But here’s another important adage for writers: “Write what you care about.”

If you don’t care deeply about your story, characters, and subject matter, it will show. Your stories won’t have the spark that readers yearn for, the passion that keeps them turning pages. They want to care, and so should you.

Put the Care in Character

We all want to care about the characters we watch in movies or TV and read about in books. We want to care about the situations they’re in and worry whether they succeed or fail. If there are places in Melville’s Moby Dick where some readers feel bored and disconnect, it’s the chapters where Ishmail disappears and we struggle to care.

Consider how much Charles Dickens cared about the plight of the working class in London or how much Jane Austen cared about the social and financial constraints of women. These great authors were passionate about their characters and the stories they wrote … and we still care about those characters and stories today.

But how do you come up with something you can care about?

Careful Brainstorming

Here are a few ideas. First, think about what really interests you. What you are drawn to when it comes to conversations, books, TV shows, movies, news, anything at all.

Do you love talking about people or machines or animals? Mysteries, histories, family dramas, Sci-Fi, or Fantasy worlds? Do you prefer math, music, the world of painting?

How about horses, cats, or dogs? Do you love golf, football, or some other sport? The thrill of trading chips on Wall Street? The drama of a court case?

Are competitive pool-houses your jam? Tournament tennis or stock-car races? How about the drama of a reluctantly shared kitchen, or local rivalries at a neighborhood potluck?

Do you love small town dramas or big city scandals? Life on a farm or ranch? The excitement of setting the stage for a local Battle of the Bands? Are you interested in fighting for justice, or the way some people fight for their families against any threat and at any cost?

Lots of interesting stories to be found in any of those arenas. So … start writing a list of what interests you.

Dare to Care

After you have created the biggest Idea List you can of all the people, things, themes, or subjects you care about (enough to potentially write hundreds of pages—if not much more), think … what exactly do you love about those things? Why do you care? What draws you in and holds your interest? What makes it personal?

Capture that. Write it down.

Then, the idea is to take interesting characters (the kind of people you care about) and place them in difficult situations. Put them in an arena that interests you, doing things you care about, or doing things in places you care about.

See what happens. Then crank up the tension by using all the things you know that can get in the way or foil the characters’ plans so they struggle to reach their goal.

What’s the worst thing that can happen to someone in the arena that interests you? If that happens to your characters, is there a way out? How much can go wrong as they keep trying to fix the problem? Can they still get what they want in the end?

Dip Into Your Past

Another way to find story ideas you can be passionate about is to dip into your past. Mine your own life experiences.

Think about your childhood. Do any particular events stand out? It could be family dramas and traumas, of course, or just something amazing that happened: Someone you met that changed everything. Someone who left and your life became altered by their absence.

How about a really scary event, or a local rumor that always intrigued you? Did you or your friends do something or discover something you thought was spectacular? Were there rivalries or alliances? Conflicts and resolutions? An unforgettable betrayal?

Did you try to do something Big and fail (but learned valuable lessons)? What stories do your friends or people you know still talk about “after all these years”? An event no one can forget? Something that shocked your hometown? Something that makes them proud (or ashamed)?

How about a mystery in the neighborhood you could write about—exactly as it happened or embellished to make a more interesting story? Was there something else happening at the time?

For example, imagine a local scandal in town that occurs during the Moon Landing or some other big event in the news. How about a family drama or conflict or a Big School Dance that happens just as a carnival rolls into town. Can internal and external events be thematically linked to provide more conflict and drama?

Once you have all your ideas written down, how many ideas, characters, events, conflicts, and dramas can be combined or swapped with something else to create a deeper, richer, more interesting story?

Caring Is Sharing

Choose the setting, theme, events, or circumstances you care about most. Then mix and match to find the best set of characters to face those circumstances in your drama.

Increase the obstacles and conflict so it’s impossible not to care what happens to your characters. Rooting for characters and hoping they’ll win, succeed, or survive is caring about them.

When you really care about what you’re writing, it will show. Readers will care too. And they’ll want more.

So, write what you know and write what you care about. Tell us your story. And then share it with the world.

We’ll all be glad you did.

S. T. Finn has lived in dozens of villages, towns, and cities throughout the United States, sleeping in cars, vans, warehouses, art colonies, ranches, even a Zen Monastery. He is the author of FAR AWAY PLACE, JUST A DROP IN THE OCEAN, and other books. Currently, he lives (and writes) on a forested mountain by a stream in New York State.