Write in photographs

Mark Twain said it best when he said "write what you know." Broad-yes, but imperative nonetheless.  Think about it. Think back to your favourite novel, poem or piece of prose, chances are you fell in love with it because it expressed some misunderstood part of you. It was relatable, it brought you back to a time or a place or a feeling you've cherished, internalized or maybe even repressed.

The reason we attach ourselves to these words that for some unseeingly defined reason have spoken louder to us than others is because they profess an honesty that we can't profess ourselves. And as powerful as this relationship between writer and reader is, it is not intentional. Writers don't necessarily seek out a particular reader-or the good ones don't, they don't intentionally write the most powerful thing YOU'VE ever read. They simply write honestly and about experiences that are bound to happen to more than one human being. The best pieces of writing capture authenticity therefore the best way to write is to live. Sounds pretty simple right?

Ha.

There's just one small problem. How do we capture all of it? And just what exactly are we supposed to capture? If all I can write is what I know and all I know can be condensed in to 19 years of suburban life-hood, how will this possibly compare to the extraordinary adventures of Harry Potter? I'm not a wizard. I don't have a bad ass scar, and I have neither a wizarding protege nor an arachnophobic ginger for a best friend. So what on earth do I write about?
And then I sit back, and I take a breath and I realize that though J.K Rowling does an incredible job at creating a world I'll never be able to live in, I am drawn to the modest, humanistic tendencies of her writings. Like Harry's first kiss with Cho Chang, or the unsaid but always acknowledged tension between Ron and Hermione. These things, I definitely have experienced.

And then I realize that the best pieces of writings I have ever read recreate a moment. One sparingly intense moment. Like a picture.
Here's the ticker. To maintain authenticity, always assure that YOU are in the picture. Or at least some part of you is.

For example, in Tenessee Williams' A Street Car Named Desire, the main character; Blanche returns to her sister's home after a traumatizing experience whereby she finds her lover in bed with another man. Similarly, in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" another one of William's plays, we see Brick struggle with his sexuality as well. We now know that Tenessee Williams was, in fact gay. Though it wasn't always as obvious, he leaked trails of himself in to his works.

Lemony Snickett, in my opinion has written some of this centuries most intelligent novels and he actually makes himself a character in his books. Though this character is detached and not clearly defined, he, on many occasions implies a personal tie to the story.

So take a moment. Freeze it and describe all the little things about that day, how the wind was blowing, who you were talking to, if you had sweat stains on your shirt, if it smelled like pizza pockets, if you were happy or if you were just semi-ok. Write all of it down, get every tiny detail in there even if you think it will be unbelievable. There are many instances in life where I have had to double take or rub my eyes and assure myself that I did indeed just see a man pull down his pants in the middle of San Francisco and try to take a dump. (Excuse the graphic visual.)

Do this over and over and allow yourself to place these pictures in chronological order, soon you'll have a prose of some kind. And it will be honest, because it ACTUALLY happened,  because there is a genuine sentiment that used to be reality. There's no use writing about getting cheated on if you've never experienced betrayal of any kind. Just like there's no use in painting a wall red when you want to paint it white.

Life is a reel full of photographs. So get out your polaroid, and snap away. Then sit down and tell the world exactly what's in that photograph and you'll find someone somewhere far away taping your words to their bedroom wall because you've managed to perfectly depict what they're going through.

Or at the very least, you might be on my bedroom wall!