don't write what you know
This blog post was first published on Archaeolibrian on Feb.9, 2022.
You read that title correctly. Don't write what you know.
This is an opposing viewpoint to advice young and aspiring fiction authors hear all the time:
"Write what you know."
On the face of it, writing what you know is sound advice and makes perfect sense. Afterall, it’s far easier to write about what you know than what you don’t.
And that’s why JRR Tolkien wrote about hobbits and orcs, why Stephen King gives us insight into the world of horror and monsters, and how Frank Herbert was able to so succinctly describe space travel 10,000 years in the future.
If any of these authors abided by the “Write what you know” adage, we wouldn’t have beloved classics that have shaped the face of literature and entertainment.
My feeling is don’t write what you know—write what you love (and learn).
Is this notion applicable only to science fiction, horror and fantasy?
Absolutely not. How many romance novelists experience their characters’ love affairs? If they did, it’s called memoir.
Sure, some crime novelists were former cops or private detectives. But if it really happened, it’s called true crime.
The sentiment is accurate for literary fiction, as well.
That’s why it’s fiction. At its core, “write what you know” is incongruous with the definition of fiction.
All this said, it’s important to write with authority and make it seem like you’re writing about what you know. Clearly, JRR Tolkien is an expert on mythical creatures in a mythical age.
Another caveat to this is personal experience and emotion. All characters, regardless of their fantastic nature, are created from the author’s head. So yes, write what you know so you can put it into your characters, but you don’t need to only write what you know. My novel, The Prisoner of Paradise, follows an American couple who travel to Venice, Italy. When the husband comes to believe that his true soul mate is not his wife, but a woman trapped in the world’s largest oil painting, he discovers a secret society that has developed a method of extracting people’s souls from their bodies.
He goes on a quest to save his soul mate from eternal purgatory but liberating her means freeing all the souls in the painting—something the secret society will never let happen.
As the main character ventures deeper into the story, there are a number of flashbacks to 16th century Venice.
The Prisoner of Paradise is the first of a three-book series published by TouchPoint Press.
I’m American, I’ve been to Venice, and I’m married. But those are pretty much the only things I knew about my characters or the story before I began writing it.
But I write what I love—adventure, thrillers, love stories, art, history, action, the Renaissance, Venice, and more. Sure, I’m a little biased, but it’s the kind of book I’d read in a heartbeat.
I also write what I learn. Hundreds of hours of research went into The Prisoner of Paradise, including a trip to Venice. I now know a great deal about the City of Masks, Jacopo Tintoretto, the Doge’s Palace, and life in the 16th century, but had I written about what I knew, the story that had been swimming in my head never would’ve seen the light of day.
So yes, write what you know but don’t limit yourself to that cliché. Instead, transport readers with what you love and what you’ve learned.
