[PUBLIC POST] What's a non-writing skill useful for writing?

[ljwrites]

A lot of us spend time working on the practice and theory of fiction-writing. But are there skills that don't have to do directly with fiction writing that are nontheless helpful? I've heard of art being useful to writers, for instance, and a musician I know is guided by her musical skills and inspirations when writing. I know another writer who's also an actor, and have heard anecdotally of actors making good writers. Andrew Robinson, who played Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, wrote the novel A Stitch in Time about his character's background that I found wonderfully moving and evocative, not to mention great world-building of Cardassia. I can see a direct connection there between the two skillsets since acting is about expressing characters, like much of writing is.

While I am not an actor, I found my experience playing and running roleplaying games highly useful for understanding characters and keeping track of storylines in my writing projects. Roleplaying has also given me a perspective of stories not as something that comes from me but from the characters' own motivations and interests. When it comes down to it I have to inhabit these characters and play them, an ethos that I apply to writing as well.

Are there non-writing skills or experiences that you find useful for writing? Have you observed others using different skillsets when writing?

Comments

[jazzyjj]

A bit late in replying here, but I think role playing is a great skill indeed. That's part of what I do for my job, when we go out on our Disability-Awareness Trainings. It's a lot of fun, but to be honest I'm getting a bit sick and tired of the way we do it. But that's another story. I think another skill that lends itself well to my writing is my knowledge of accessibility. I will fully admit to not knowing everything there is to know about it, but I'd say I know a good deal. I've posted a few entries in my journal having to do with accessibility.

[ljwrites]

I used to volunteer with a woman who was a special education major, and at our volunteer project (teaching after-school classes to low-income kids) I heard she put together a session where the children learned the basics of assisting disabled people through roleplaying. Is that the sort of thing you do?

How would you say knowledge of accessibility helps your writing--in the knowledge aspect, i.e. if you write a story that deals with accessibility, in the technical aspect when you need to use accessibility features to write, as a direct help to storytelling or description?