Write what you know?

Hey Y'all,

As I've just finished the NaNoWriMo chaos (which resulted in me writing 30,000 words) I've been thinking about some writing advice"Write what you know."

I think this is misleading.

As writers we're supposed to uncover that which is unknown, shed light on that which is unseen. If we're only writing what we know fantasy, wizards, and dragons wouldn't exist! Think about it, if J.K Rowling only wrote what she knew Harry Potter would've never come to fruition. Neither would the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Maze Runner, Hunger Games... I could go on and on.

That being said, there needs to be a sense of familiarity in your stories. I'm not reading a book with a thirty year old man as the MC because that is foreign to me. I want to read about someone either
a.) of a different age
b.) a girl
or c.) someone who I can relate to.
If this said thirty year old man turned out to be a life long allergy kid and this is about his journey through med school to find a cure I'd be waaaaaaaaay more likely to read about him.

Why? Because it's familiar, I feel safe with this topic, I know where I stand.

Now, from a writing standpoint why do we write what we know? Because it's easier! Duh! Because we can write a better story with things we've experienced, but is it good to only write what we know? I think not.

I personally switch around from historical to contemporary fiction in order to trying and write something new and exciting. Like for instance my NaNo novel was my first ever mystery. I stank at it, but I did it in order to expand my writing knowledge. We writers have to do that some times.

Writing what we know can limit us, but writing what we don't know can result in a pretty weird or untrue book so we need a mix of the two.

What do y'all think?

-Libby

"Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created." Esther 4:14 (paraphrased, not by me.)