Writing what you know

I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I find that it's more difficult to write about intense personal experiences than about fiction. It shouldn't be, logically. After all, the facts are all there to hand, right? You don't actually have to make anything up or, y'know, be creative. But when you're writing about something you've been in the thick of, something that has affected you deeply and permanently, it becomes harder to self-edit.

It suddenly becomes vital that you perfectly express every tiny nuance of what you felt, otherwise it doesn't seem true, or seems flat and emotionless and devoid of the intensity that so affected you in the first place. So many words, images and impressions come rushing to the fore that you struggle to bully them into some semblance of order and make them line up coherently on the page.

In case you're wondering what the hell I'm on about, I visited Libya in April of last year, during the thick of the fighting. After weeks of watching the slaughter of civilians on TV, the tipping point came when I learnt that we'd lost a family member during fighting in Brega. At that point I couldn't take it anymore, so I bought a backpack and sleeping bag from an army surplus shop, packed what gear I thought I'd need in the desert, and headed on the long road to Benghazi.

I really had absolutely no idea what I was doing or how much of a difference I could really make. I didn't know where I'd be sleeping or how long it would take to get there - I only knew I had to do something more than passively watch the horror play out on the news.

So I went.

The trip left me with some indelible images that I'm still struggling to come to terms with, and I think writing will help me through some of that, but it's difficult. Sometimes writing what you know really is tougher than writing what you don't...

100 words for a good cause

The unutterably lovely Caroline Smailes, author extraordinaire, has come up with a great idea to get people writing and supporting a worthy charity at the same time. Details are at Caroline's site here, but essentially it's a flash fiction competition in which the winners get published in an ebook and the money raised goes to support One in Four, a registered charity which provides support and resources to people who have experienced sexual abuse and sexual violence.


All stories should be no longer than 100 words and inspired by a song that's on YouTube, so here's my humble submission. Wish me luck!

She looked up at me as we lay in the field, the sun warm on my back and the sweet smell of dry grass enveloping us. She'd just said the magic word, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright with the risk she'd taken.


"I love you."


I looked down at her, at the way she bit her bottom lip, at her hair strewn in a fan of silken ebony. I could practically hear her heart thudding in her chest. Did I love her back? I leant down and we melted into kiss that shook the world.


'Course I did.

Inspired by "Fields of Gold" by Sting