The rambling of a writer

Keep it real? With what experiences?

"They called and a limousine rolled forwards for them to drive them to their 5-star hotel where they had a buffet in a corner all for themselves and no fans bothered them period."

"In a crowd with over a thousand people, he saw YOU! From a stage with blinding lights making it nearly impossible to differentiate faces in a crowd. But you, totally there and not smothered by the other fifty sweaty, screaming and much taller concert goers, he saw."

"It was his own appartment he rented in the center of L.A. With four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Oh, and the kitchen as big as the living room? Never used."

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Yes! Writing is hard!
Especially if you want to keep things real!
It's not for nothing writers keep joking that if the FBI ever traced their browser history, they'll get arrested on the spot!
Because. You. Need. To. Research. Your. Topics. Before. Penning. Things. Down!

Can I blame the poor youngsters who haven't even experienced half of their lives to not know how a real concert goes? Or how living as an adult works while they are still struggling to find out what to do about *insert name* who likes *insert name*?
Don't even get me started on the lack of knowledge about 'normal' living conditions.
And yes, this also includes the college student writers around us! 
They have no freaking clue how to describe a normal job, let alone a normal relationship. (Woohoo, another tantrum topic I'll dive into!)
You're excused barely adulting smoll people, but not anymore after reading this chapter!!! I'll warn you;)

I can't help it!
Everytime I read a story about something involving music I ask myself; Does this writer even KNOW how music works?
That goes on for all kind of topics...
A celebrity in an event? Dude... those people have bodyguards... Okay, but what about staff? Press? Eventmanagement? NO way your hotty celeb will be even a MOMENT alone with your sad ass of a protagonist. 
Even with mundane things!
A character doing groceries? They grab 'allll their faves, because Tehe a girl needs her coffee am I right?' Dude! Groceries are expensive! No you won't go for the 'chips he likes so much', you're a grown ass adult and will go for the bellpeppers and pasta combo! And the A-tier stuff is only for the ones who can afford it, which, with this economy? Pffffff.....
The poor RAMEN student? Fuck off.... Ramen seem cheap, but not cheap enough, nor nutrient rich enough for them to even SURVIVE! Don't deny it, you've written ten chapters where your main ate them and you didn't even know because who re-reads those boring parts, hmmmmmmm? >.>

"But writer... I write fantasy tropes, so I'm off the hook!"
Now listen here you little shit... Yes, with fantasy or magic tropes you can get away with a lot, but even then STAY REALISTIC!
Every poor main must be brought in to the dining hall which is loaded with all these expensive dishes and food never to be heard of.
PFFFF dude, ANY idea how hard it is to make that many diffent kinds of food in a medieval setting? Be lucky they got a stew, maybe some soup and stale bread going for them... But a table full of fifteen different meat dishes?! FROM WHERE?!
Or hygene... That clawfoot tub in the corner of ther private ensuite seems to be filled with hot water and rose petals like EVERY DAMN NIGHT! You know how long it takes to fill up a bathtub by hand? .... around two hours for only one or two people... 
AND NO! NO "But magic" whining!
A good magic system is all about entropy. Take some, give some! Cause everything is made out of matter and will return to a carbon state before being brought back as something else. It's called science and even magic has to obey to some of those rules... 
Otherwise *Jazz hands* you have an unrealistic magic system...

Also: Traveltime... Both described traveltime as skipping time between chapters...
Why are planeflights always described as only the flight scene? What about that three-two hour awkwardly standing in lines and pacing around at the airport? Or after, when you have to stand in line -again-  to gather luggage? NOOOOH, let's just write about how they had a boring flight and suddenly arrived in Paris...
Then what's the whole point of even describing the FLIGHT?! If it doesn't give you tip-offs/details for the plot/introductions to new characters or anything of that sort: DON'T DESCRIBE IT!
ASH! STOP trying to justify it 'because otherwise it feels weird if they suddenly are somewhere else...'
If it doesn't aid the plot. SKIP. IT!

Last but not least: Emotions...
Empty wool-filled heads... because nothing is more realistic than a female silently watching how someone scolds her and her love interest interferes... NOT.
I don't know about you guys, but if someone's angry around me; I either freeze, flight the scene orrrrrr fight back.
But staying silent in a monologue and letting someone just go on and on and on?
No! You interrupt!
Female rage is a common thing and male quietness is just as normal! 
But all we love to write are these damsels in distress.... Boring...  Emotions are like trainwrecks, not slow sloths... We can change between them easily. So anger doesn't have to be explosive and paired with violence... It can be brooding and silent as well.
And happiness isn't laughing out loud an jumping in the air, it can be wiggling your toes and blinking rapidly.
So steer away from the obvious, sometimes outragious borderline descriptions of surrealistic emotions and get real!

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So, what to do to keep things real?
- RESEARCH! Dive into that weird topic! Yes, defile your browser history and throw off your Youtube algorithms.  Shine with your new discovered knowledge in things like how to use a boltplug or when to use up tomato ketchup! Become the king or queen of random trivia!
- Get out of the DELULU mindset! Your character ISN't special! Well, not that much! There isn't a spotlight on them 24/7. Describe the mundane around them!
- Go out. Touch some grass...
No really... Got no idea how things work? Go outside and see for yourself!
In writing school we got more than often the task to go sit somewhere and.... observe...
I've once observed for over FOUR hours how people ordered their coffee and let me tell you: NO ONE had that cute 5 minute conversation with the adorable bartender! Cause no one got time for that and helllooooo strangerdanger! People don't talk to people without a motive.
- No idea how something works? Maybe tune it down?!
Instead of a rooftop bar with exclusive people and a big dance floor, go for the local pub with the 50+ geezers sitting in the corner playing darts and the giggling barely legal young adults sipping on their inexpensive beers. Chose what you know, or at least what you can imagine as something plausible. 
- Ask...
Oh no, socialize? Letting your audience know you don't know shit? Oh dear... But most of the time, a writer has to interview people for more information about something. Be it either a new perspective they've never thought about or the knowledge how something works.
And hey, people love to talk about things they're passionate about. Never mer a teacher who hasn't had at least ten anecdotes about some students of them! Just ask!
- Observe
The power of just looking, figuring things out, it's a powerful tool. Try writing down how ten of your friends display the basic emotions. See what the differences are and try to link them to their personalities. Not use that knowledge for your character descriptions. There's around a thousand ways people show that they're happy, so go search for the little details! That's what makes it real!

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Writer's confession:

Oh man... Getting older is really such a pleasure yet a curse!You gain knowledge and better understandment about stuff, but at the same time you see... basically everyone else's shortcomings in knowledge...

And oh did I wrote some straight up stuff that was WRONG!

I once wrote about a character having a tattoo so big, it covered her whole back. THE GIRL WAS FIFTEEN! a tattoo that big?! It's not even allowed in my country to get that without parental guidance! Let alone; WITH WHAT MONEY DID SHE GOT A BACKPIECE! That costs over 2000 Euro's to have one done professionally! UUUGHHHH