One of the most common pieces of writing advice we often hear as beginners is “Write what you know.” But what does that even mean? And is it actually good advice?
If I had taken that suggestion literally, my first novel would have been about a man in his late twenties with a day job as a media coordinator at Lifetime Television who was writing a novel about the action-packed world of file transfers, video conversions, and women’s programming. Riveting. Perhaps readers would have been drawn in by the rich cast of characters based on my wacky co-workers, friends, and family–who I’m sure would have been flattered to be included. You see the problem. Worse still, my second novel would have been exactly the same, and my third…
I read fiction for experiences completely different from my own, to see with other people’s eyes, so why should writing fiction be any different? I love science fiction and fantasy because in the right hands, an author can make the impossible seem real.
[Read the rest of this post at The League of Extraordinary Writers]
