Write what you know. That's what every teacher of every creative writing class tells you. Every book on screenwriting or writing novels talks about this. We all have personal experiences. Sure, some of us have traveled more than others, had more interesting jobs, worked with interesting people. But everywhere a writer goes, they should be, at least mentally if not on paper, making notes about characters and settings. A good writer files away experiences in his mind for later use. Few have taken the advice "Write what you know" quite to the same degree as Samuel Clemens.
And what a lifetime of personal experiences Clemens had to draw from. Memories from his childhood are scattered about Tom Sawyer. In fact, it would be fair to say that he is Tom Sawyer. His boyhood home of Hannibal, Missouri makes the setting of that great novel. Becky Thatcher, Tom's girlfriend, is based on a real girl Clemens knew. Huck Finn also finds his roots in Hannibal; Clemens' main character from his masterpiece is based upon the son of the town drunk.
But Hannibal was not the only place that provided Clemens with inspiration. During his younger years, he spent a great deal of time out west as a prospector and news writer. Later, he spent several years as captain of a riverboat. During these years, Clemens met hosts of interesting people on the river and in the mountains. These people would provide the basis for many of the characters in his novels. In fact, Clemens' alter ego and pen name Mark Twain comes from his personal experience on a riverboat.
Personal Experience provides the framework for The Innocents Abroad and Life on the Mississippi. Clemens was a man whose writing truly flowed from himself. By reading his novels and his non-fiction, we really get a picture of both the life he led, and the people and places along the way.
WC: 318
No comments:
Post a Comment