Let Your Experience Shine
by Katelyn Rae
Did you study something other than writing in college? Do you have job experience that doesn’t include beautiful prose? You can still use those skills in writing!
My degrees in college included an “Associates of Science” and a “Bachelors of Anthropology, with a focus in Archaeology.” In all those years of study I took only a handful of writing classes—disliked all but one of them with a passion—and came away with a backlog of information that most people wouldn’t directly associate with writing… at least, not fiction. After all, with my degrees shouldn’t I be out uncovering artifacts while, at most, writing academic papers?
Yet, here I am. Out of college and what am I doing? I’m writing.
So, was my time in college a waste since I’m not actively uncovering artifacts in distant lands? No. Quite the opposite in fact.
My job may have me writing blogs, and my major goals involve writing and publishing novels… but I use my degree. Regularly. I take my thousands of hours of study and continually find ways to use them.
With anthropology, I take what I learned about exploring cultures and create my own—or use those research methods to uncover the information I need about an existing culture. With archaeology, I take what I know about various times in history to either create my own, or research existing times I might want to use. I’ve even included an archaeological dig in one novel, a museum in another, and so forth. Further, it was my background that opened the door to writing blogs full time; my degree in archaeology piqued the interest of one of the companies I now write for, and then piqued the interest of their sister company, and so forth.
Add in the multi-dozen or so other classes I took in college not directly related to my degrees, and I have a backlog of information and experiences that I otherwise wouldn’t have. Yes, the classes rarely involved writing—aside from the numerous papers assigned—but I can’t imagine not taking advantage of what I learned. Even felt and experienced.
My point is, your education, jobs, experiences, and very existence are all valuable tools for writing. What might feel like a completely unrelated class or personal experience could be the very thing which adds that depth another author or blogger has no direct way to.
Picture, if you will, a writer with a background in architecture describing the textures and layout of a building. A gardener portraying their favorite flowers. Maybe a hair stylist providing insights into different hair types and styles. Each of these lend potential for not only beautiful artistry on the part of the writer, but for truth and reality to bring the words to life!
Your collection of experiences and interests provide a unique appeal when sprinkled in your work. What you’ve felt, pushed through, and discovered, is never going to be exactly the same as the person next to you… so why not use that to your advantage?!
The key is to realize and utilize this fact. Because, it doesn’t matter if you’ve sat in a room by yourself or handled hundreds of customers a day, there are aspects of human nature, emotion, culture, and resources unique to your experiences. They can make your work stand out!
Now, I don’t know your background. I don’t know what you’ve experienced, where you’ve traveled, what classes you took… but I can tell you this. They matter.
Take a few minutes to mull over your life, your first job, or that college class you took—it doesn’t really matter what—and you may be surprised to find an entire story waiting to be written, or some unique details to add to something you’ve begun.
Your life matters.
So, take those few minutes. Discover something you’ve perhaps taken for granted about your life. Then, utilize it. Pick up your pen, computer, phone, typewriter, or even a lipstick if you must, but write! You won’t regret it.
Happy writing.
