By Mollie Joy Rushmeyer, @mollierushmeyer
As writers, we often hear “write what you know”—although we might choose not to. Maybe we want to explore a topic, a career, a period in history, a struggle or challenge, a country, et cetera we know nothing about. That’s the beauty of fiction. I’ve done my share of research into the unknown (to me) and it’s one of my favorite things about writing. I find myself lost down a rabbit hole of learning at least a couple of times during each book-plotting process.
But if you’d like to amp up your story’s power to move emotions, create deep and memorable characters, and for you as the writer, increase your connection with the story and characters, try tapping into your own experiences. This doesn’t mean you necessarily include the exact details and people involved. In fact, you want to be sure names and enough of the circumstances are tweaked to keep yourself out of trouble (or at least free of angry phone calls/emails).
Ask yourself, how much more passion will I infuse into this scene/backstory/emotional wound/character arc/etc. if I put something of myself into it? I’ll admit it isn’t always easy to dig into my own life and display it on the page, but I will say that I’m never more in tune with my characters, nor more invested in the story I’m weaving than when I’m writing from a place of experience.
But, you might say, what if I don’t want to tell my deepest darkest secrets to the world? No worries. There are plenty of ways to use your life in your fiction and the depth of what you share is up to you.
I’ll share a couple of examples from my first two books to give you an idea:
- In my upcoming release, The Lost Manuscript, there were several different levels of sharing. The whole setting and premise center around a place and experience near and dear to my heart—the Alnwick, England summer-long study abroad program. I attended this program in college and knew I wanted to write about characters who did the same thing because it was such a life-changing season for me. So, I drew from the sights I saw, the sounds, the beautiful landscape, and the awed feeling I had of seeing Alnwick Castle for the first time. But I also changed the situation to a main character who is a professor traveling to Alnwick to teach medieval history and look for a lost illuminated manuscript her grandmother went missing trying to find. Pretty much all fun stuff in this example, right?
- Well, the other piece of inspiration for this story may not have been so fun, but it’s something I wanted to share because I prayed it might resonate with and help someone who reads it. My heroine and hero of the story, Ellora and Alex Lockwood, are an estranged married couple at the beginning of the story due to a lack of communication, deep wounds, and keeping secrets. While the circumstances in the story, especially what Ellora and Alex are hiding from one another, aren’t anything my husband and I have gone through, I did draw from those times when I felt we weren’t on the same page. Maybe I felt unheard or worried I wouldn’t be understood and was tempted to keep quiet rather than not receive the reaction I wanted. My hubby and I have been through our ups and downs in our twenty-year marriage, but we’ve found most things can be healed through communication. And for me, all of the relationships in my life are significantly impacted by my relationship with God and where He and I are at. I’m hoping some of the struggles along with the “ah-ha” moments in the story will help others.
- In a similar way, in my debut novel, The Bookshop of Secrets, I bled every ounce of my love for literature, words, and classic and antique books onto the page. Every bit of my main character, Hope Sparrow’s, book lovin’ heart came directly from me. So, that was the good stuff. But I had to share the hard stuff too, in order to tap into who my character is and what she’s dealing with. Because of trauma in Hope’s past, she endures anxiety attacks, along with other PTSD symptoms. I drew from my own lifelong struggle with anxiety and anxiety attacks as well as the coping skills I’ve learned over the years. It was a tough place to go at times, but I felt the story was all the better for it.
Don’t be afraid to share from your heart and from your real experiences. Perhaps God allowed you to go through something that will speak to and help someone else. Beauty from ashes, right?
Your story matters!
In the vein of The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick, a priceless manuscript could be one woman’s key to finding her missing grandmother—and to her own second chance.
It’s not just Ellora Lockwood’s home that’s being emptied as she prepares to sell—her heart seems to be empty too. Since the mysterious disappearance of her beloved Grandma June and separating from her husband, Alex, Ellora has felt adrift. Then comes an invitation from Alex to teach history at a summer program at Alnwick Castle in England. He’s even found information about the location of a medieval manuscript that was her grandmother’s obsession before she vanished.
Warily, Ellora accepts Alex’s offer. Surrounded by lush English countryside and captivating history, she pieces together clues about the manuscript’s whereabouts—and uncovers new questions. Could someone have been sabotaging her grandmother’s work? Anonymous threats lead Ellora to suspect she too may be in danger, but as she and Alex work together, she’s finding strength, new purpose and the courage to see this quest through, wherever it may lead…
Mollie Joy Rushmeyer writes “Contemporary Fiction with a Heart for History.” She loves to write inspirational fiction in contemporary settings with fascinating historical elements, people, objects, and stories woven throughout. A modern girl herself, she wouldn’t want to go a day without modern plumbing. But she’s always felt a special connection to the past. The legacies and lives left behind are like gifts waiting to be unwrapped, and she shares this blend of history and contemporary living with readers.
A born and bred Midwestern gal, Mollie, makes her home in Minnesota with her husband and two spunky daughters. She is not only a bibliophile (the dustier the better, in her opinion), she’s a true anglophile at heart. Tea and coffee fuel her travels, by Google maps at least, and her passion for the written word.
Her debut novel, The Bookshop of Secrets, with Love Inspired Trade/Harlequin released October 25th, 2022. And her second, The Lost Manuscript, will be available August of 2023.
She’d love to connect through social media: https://www.facebook.com/mollie.rushmeyer and https://www.instagram.com/molliejoyrushmeyer/
And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter (visit molliejrushmeyer.com) for vintage recipe reboots, history mixed with modern living, tea and book pairings, exclusive giveaways, and a FREEBIE pdf download “10 Vintage Hacks for Modern Homes.”