Authenticity over Originality

"Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at,
with originality, which they should never bother about." –W.H. Auden



printing press in 1875

 Authenticity: accurate in representation of the facts; trustworthy; reliable.

*photos in text are from a recent researching trip*

If you want to write something that no one will ever read, then keep a journal.  If you want to write something that people will read, write authentically. 

What does that mean – it means do your homework.  Writing isn’t for the school sluff-off.  Many people lump us as dreamers who just like to live in little imaginary worlds and tell people about them.  Well, if that be the case, then I sure hope we never put pen to paper.  Sure, a writer has to have a crazy wild imagination, but it needs to be tempered with authentic writing.



You might think you escaped research the second that diploma hit your hands, but if you want to be a good writer a larger amount of your time will be spent researching than writing.

I hear you.  “Sure, that makes sense for the non-fiction writer, but surely not a writer of fiction.”

Actually, I’d argue that authenticity has to ring true a hundred fold more for a fiction writer.  The whole point of writing a story is to capture your reader, to draw them so deeply into that written word that for the time they are reading it…that world is real.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, should ever cause them to close that cover to not open it again.  And the quickest way to get a reader to drop your book is by being unauthentic in the scenarios, situations, and dialogue.





rebuilt 1875 town


I was recently reading a published work of fiction and they started diving into some dealings with the police – and I laughed and put down the book.  I laughed, not because the book was in any way funny, I laughed at the author’s pathetic attempt to paint an authentic police situation.  See, because of my real-life job, let’s just say I know a thing or two about how a police officer would act in a certain situation, and how police policy goes.  The author violated that and I knew I couldn’t trust their writing and I won’t ever pick up a book written by that author again. 

This author could have saved himself if he would have made one call to his local police department and had a five minute interview with an officer asking what their department would do if found in the situation found in his book.

Get how serious this is?

They always say “write what you know” but I don’t think that has to be the case, as long as you take time getting acquainted with your characters and situations.  If you are writing about some strange disease then call up a medical professional – or hey, those pharmacists are stuck behind that counter, ask them.  If you are a forty year old woman writing from the perspective of a thirteen year old boy, you best either go talk to someone you know who works with students that age, or spend some time with boys that age – listen to how they talk.  They talk in short sentences and their conversations don’t always connect.  They aren’t going to go into long monologues nor will they tell their buddy that they are afraid.  If you are writing about a location you’ve never been to then call their city hall and request a new resident packet be sent to you – or even tell them you are a writer and ask if you can email them questions about their town.  Writing about WWII, get down to the local VFW and talk to the Veterans, hear their stories – you might find out what they tell you is ten times better than what you had thought up and it could change your book entirely.





don't trust her, she tried to sell me leeches!

 I cannot stress how important the research aspect is for all writers.  Don’t just make stuff up.  You’ll get caught someday and lose all credibility.  Do the hard work on the front end so you can truly be proud of your end product, not to mention it’ll help you knock your interviews out of the ballpark.

Everything I’m saying goes double for historical writers.  Most of the time we can’t see and touch the places and people we are writing about, so that means lots of hours in the library.  Before writing my regency piece I spent two solid weeks sitting in a room surrounded by books and learning everything I could about the lives of the people I would write about.  I wanted their dialogue to ring with authenticity so I read autobiographies from the time period from people who had nothing to do with the people I was going to write about, but it helped.  That, and there are plenty of hands-on experiences for historical writers.  Reenactors are excellent sources of information, they are your experts, seek them out. 

All I'm saying is be authentic.  In writing.  In life.