How to Become a Better Writer: A Wattpad Guide

TIP #21: Writing What You Haven't Experienced

Someone once asked me how it is possible to write about romance, for instance, without having had an experience in romance. 

Well, folks, that's why it's called fiction writing. Fiction allows you to pretend. It affords you the opportunity to invent characters and create worlds (like we see in fantasy or sci-fi writing) and write about situations that you might not have experienced yourself. Most of us on Wattpad have written about tons of things that we've never experienced. I know I have. In fact, one of my published stories is a mystery/thriller about a college girl who commits a crime and is in prison facing execution. I've never experienced that, but I wrote that story, and so can any of you.

To do so, it's important that you remember to:

a.) utilize your vivid imagination

b.) draw upon your own fantasies—those things that you've only fantasized or dreamt

c.) research your subject in great length and use History as a teacher

d.) read other works in the same or similar genre

e.) place yourself in the shoes of your main character to embody the things that character might say and do 

f.) learn from the experiences of others

A huge part of being a writer is also being a student of the world, learning from the things that you see or do or hear and drawing inspiration from those things. Even if you've never had a romantic experience, you've likely known someone who has or have yourself fantasized about someone special. Draw upon that and go forth and create those amazing stories!

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I'd like to hear about some of the things/stories that you've written, but have never personally experienced. Drop me a COMMENT. What inspired you to write about it?