Writing What You Know

Writing what you know – what exactly does this mean?

When I first heard this advice as a very young writer, I was confused. I took it literally of course, and thought it meant that I should only write  about things I’d actually done, places I’d actually been, and only fictionalize people I knew in my actual, real life.

“Boring” was my first thought (although I’ve definitely come around on that point!).

And wait – what about the fantasy novels I loved to read, and the ones I wanted to write? How do we get away with those if we’re only “writing what we know”?

Of course, what you “know” can be taken in a broader sense than the way I first heard it, and it’s the way most authors of fiction interpret “write what you know.”

Knowledge can come through study and research of a historical period of personage.

It can come about by deep sessions of imagination and experimentation as we build a fictitious world, devise its cosmology or intricate histories.

Knowledge can be emotional knowledge. We may not have lived through the particular loss or triumph our character goes through, but our human experience with  – our knowing of – disappointment, grief, beating the odds, etc. can help us to write about it.

I think it would be a very limited creative experience indeed if we could only write fiction rooted in our personal circumstances. Not that fantastic stories aren’t often born there, of course!

I think that the bottom line is that when we write, we want to do so with authenticity. That comes about by “knowing” our subject matter deeply, no matter the pathways we take toward that knowing.

Happy writing, all!

Karin 🙂

For more tips and reflections on the writing process, please take a look at my award-winning book The One Week Writing Workshop: 7 Days to Spark, Boost or Revive Your Novel.