Write What You Know! But . . .

As writers we keep learning new things all the time. While the adage “Write what you know” works well for us at the start of a project, what happens when we get out there on the literary minefield where we are uneasy about what comes next?

What if we don’t know?

Case in Point: I was writing a short story recently about a group of guys who hung out together up in Maine, a favorite vacation place for my wife and me.

I was quite familiar with the setting, even with some of the eateries, bars, and the church and hospital my fictional male characters hung out at, visited, or had need for. But . . . my male characters were all gay gentlemen, gently aging, and my main guy was dying of AIDS. This was all new territory for me, a straight guy. I had no personal experience. So . . . off to the Internet I went, looking for sites with reliable information. I found articles on topics such as “HIV Infection Associated with Premature Aging,” “HIV Antibody Therapy Looks Promising,” and “Plasma Viral Load Testing in the Management of HIV Infection.”

And, since my main character wanted to adopt a child in Haiti, I researched “Adopting a Child from Haiti.”

This was a unique route for my writing research, but I learned a lot from all these online articles. And I believe my story and its characters became more real and hopefully more readable owing to this research.

Another Case in Point: I am now writing a story that also takes place in Maine—Stonington, Maine, to be specific—about an Irishman and his waitress girlfriend.

My male character’s name is Michael, but I want to call him “Mick.” So here I am, in well-known territory at the Harbor Café that serves wonderful blueberry muffins (I do admit to having a few) but with little experience writing about a character who is Irish and has the nickname “Mick.”

Is “Mick” a respectful reference to an Irishman? Might it have some pejorative connotation?

The internet tells me: The nickname “Mick” refers to an Irish person in general because many Irish last names begin with “Mac” or “Mc.” No mention that “Mick” might be an insulting appellation, but there did follow a warning that “Paddy” is a derogatory nickname that references St. Patrick.

Imagine that. “Paddy” sounds so friendly. I recalled Paddy Chayefsky and his teleplay Marty. What nice memories both names conjure up. Yet Wikipedia tells me Paddies are no good.

I’m finding out that I must be cautious when resorting to online research. Better perhaps to draw on the personal experience of others.

So, I plan to ask a friend who works with HIV patients to look over my short story that deals with that subject. And just last week I talked with another friend of Irish decent who happens to be named Michael but prefers to be called “Mick.” I asked him if I could use the term in my other short story as a general reference to Irish men.

His reply was quite negative, and he warned me about such use. He suggested I imagine walking into a Boston pub and referring to customers there as “Micks.”

What to do? What to do?

I finally decided that, as an author—telling the story of a loud Irishman in a quiet New England café—I could use the name/term “Mick” with artistic license. It seemed comfortable as a reference to my character. I liked him, and I liked calling him “Mick.” And, if the nickname was jarring to some readers’ ears, that was OK too.

So, I’m keeping “Mick” in my little Harbor Café story even if his fictional actions offend his waitress girlfriend, who, in the end, expels him from the Harbor Cafe without his breakfast.

OUT! NOW!