What People Mean When They Say: Write What You Know
As a writer, I’ve heard the phrase ‘write what you know’ so many times it’s become dull and boring. My eyes glaze over and I take on the expression of a constipated frog. Okay, that was me letting my imagination take over, but you know what I mean. It’s just ‘blah’ writing advice because no-one ever tells you what they actually mean by it.
In this article, I’m looking at what people mean when they say ‘write what you know’ and whether or not you should you follow that advice? Let me answer both questions for you and you may be surprised by my answer to the second one.
Right, what does ‘write what you know’ ACTUALLY mean. Here’s what it doesn’t mean … it doesn’t mean write what you only know about. Don’t stick to the limits of your own experiences or familiar subjects. No-one wants to read about your mundane, everyday life in a dull industrial town — unless it suddenly becomes interesting because aliens have invaded! It also doesn’t mean you can’t write sci-fi or fantasy or even erotica because you haven’t personally experienced going out to space or used magic or attended a fetish club.
What ‘write what you know’ actually means is this…
1. Use your personal experiences to form the basis of your story — you experience emotions every day, use them. You know what fear feels like so you can use that emotion into your novel about your Sky Captain fighting evil aliens. You know what love feels like, including unrequited love, so incorporate some of your own experiences into your romance story. You know what it’s like to feel hungry, thirsty, sad, happy, exhausted, ecstatic. Incorporate these into your story if that’s what your story needs. Likewise, you have experience of what certain foods taste like, what certain scents smell like, how things feel to touch. Don’t use every single experience you can think of, only use a few of them. It’ll pep up your story and make it feel more real to the reader.
2. Incorporate your personal expertise into your novel and it doesn’t have to be brain surgery or rocket science (unless you’re a surgeon or a scientist and want to use your knowledge in your book). Whether it’s your profession (nurse, doctor, train driver, delivery person, pizza maker), hobby (sport, crafting, radio) or something you are studying (such as history or geography), you can use this knowledge to make your novel feel more authentic and credible.
3. Are there settings you can put into your book? For instance, maybe you are writing up a futuristic dystopian story. By adding in a well-known place (for example the Statue of Liberty appears in The Planet of the Apes), it can add that extra element of shock/surprise and reality. Maybe you’re setting your book in the present or past. Do some research, actually visit the area; all this can help you add that extra flavour of realism.
4. Use research to give your story more depth. You can’t go back in time to experience an event, such as a World War II battle, but there are loads of resources online to help from firsthand accounts to newspaper clippings. Don’t forget the old-fashioned way too — books! Go to your local library, ask the librarian for help, you’d be surprised how much they can help with. Also, you might want to buy books on your subject online. If your book is historical, you might have someone in your family who remembers what it was like to life in the era your book is set in. Ask them questions. If your book is modern, but on a specialist subject, reach out to someone in that area who knows what they are talking about and ask them if they wouldn’t mind chatting to you. Have your questions ready before you talk to them.
5. Tropes — these aren’t anything to do with ‘write what you know’ but I’ve added them in because they are very important in a lot of fiction writing. You need to know which tropes readers expect to see in their novels. For instance, friends to lovers is a popular trope in romance; space pirates is a fun trope in science fiction; and a nasty drill sergeant is a popular trope in war fiction. You don’t have to incorporate every trope into your genre fiction and you can mix them up. Why not have a nasty drill sergeant in your sci-fi or fantasy novel? Or put a love story inside a dystopian book? Why not write a political scandal set in the Georgian era? The sky’s the limit as far as stories are concerned.
Finally, and this is important, if you want to write for a certain genre, read as many books as you can in that genre. There’s no point writing romance/war story/science fiction/fantasy if you haven’t a clue what readers expect from a romance/war story/science fiction/fantasy.
Okay, should you follow the advice and ‘write what you know’? Yes, you should. You have had all sorts of experiences and have all sorts of knowledge that you definitely should use in your novel. Don’t be afraid to incorporate elements of your life in your book. It’ll turn a potentially flat story into something amazing. Good luck, my friend!
If you’d like to read more writing advice from me, please follow me. See also: https://danelsonauthor.com/