Why do people always say, "Write about what you know"?

Question

Does it not seem kind of ridiculous?
Good thing Jules Verne went all the way around the world in 80 days, huh? Except...he didn't. Likewise, how cool was it when J.R.R. Tolkein was involved in that awesome war in Middle Earth? And how J.K. Rowling made those millions writing about her experiences at that wizarding school she went to? And Charles Dickens being that miser who hated Christmas but got totally turned around when those spirits visited him? Oh, wait...
The way I see it, if you're prepared to do the research and have an active imagination, literary greats have proved you can write about whatever you want.

Your opinion?

Answer 1

The saying isn't write about what you've done, it's write about what you know. For example, I would never try to write a sci-fi novel. I've read only one sci-fi book (well, series, but still), so I doubt it would come out very well. I've read many, many urban fantasies, though, so that's what I'm trying to write now. Basically, my interpretation of the saying is that it actually means "Write what you've read."

However, I don't think the fact that you don't know something inside and out should stand in your way when you want to write about it. If you've never read horror before, but you get a great idea for a horror novel, why not write about it?

Answer 2

That's true, but their writings have basis in real life and interests. First of all, you're only quoting a few works of the authors Verne and Dickens, while they wrote several other novels. Jules Verne studied the sciences and was an avid fan of traveling, he based his works around those experiences. Charles Dickens did grow up poor and worked in a child labor factory with poor treatment, so he knew what he was writing about. J.K. Rowling knows about schooling in England, and she's studied magic.. same with J.R.R. Tolkein, he took from some experiences, and built the rest with knowledge and imagination.

Answer 3

The reason you need to write about what you know is because it is much harder to write about a subject you have no clue on. If I was to begin a story on espionage, it would probably take me month or years to gather everything I needed(from training to weapons, etc). However if I choose a subject I know well, the research is less, and also less confusing.

You use Tolkien and Rowling as your examples but the knowledge they use is their own . Middle Earth and Wizarding world is fake, so their info was created by them. I guarantee that Tolkein and Rowling planned every aspect of the world they were creating and knew it inside and out before they began. They did write what they knew, they just created it first.

Much authors writing may not seem as if it comes from experience, but if you look deeper it is. Tolkien was an officer on the front lines. Most of Dickens works focus around poor orphan children, a life he was familiar with.

It is possible to write about whatever you want but it may not be as good as if you knew the subject well.

Answer 4

The main reason why people say that you should write about you know is because writing is a hard thing to do, especially if attempting a novel. It takes a lot of work and a TON of planning. If you were to write about the war in Iraq right now, for example, but didn't know anything about it, it would be a lot harder to research it then, say, if you knew a ton about the Civil war. It just helps the writing process go smoother. And a lot of the time, people aren't dedicated and quit the novel they "were sure" they would finish. And, I don't think people can be too hard on them. Writing is a very difficult thing to do and making it actually read-able is even harder.
Personally, though, I don't think you have to write about what you know. If you are truly dedicated to the story, it shouldn't matter if you know the entire thing backwords or forwards or don't even know one fact about it. But, then again, that is just my opinion. And I completely agree w/ you on how JK Rowling didn't really write about what she knew with witches and wizards nor did JRR Tolkein. It all depends on imagination and some research!

Answer 5

When writing fiction one of the quickest ways to lose a reader, where one will actually close the book and stop reading it - is the lack of plausibility. Even in the most far-fetched sci-fi or fantasy there are elements that must be based on fact and the author needs to know them. The author must also keep in mind that their audience should include everyone.
For example, a crime novel needs to be written using true police procedure. If a policeman(or a lawyer, paralegal, law clerk, criminal, etc.) is reading a book and on the first page there are procedural errors, something that would never take place, you have lost the reader and more than likely they will stop reading it.
Another example, in sci-fi the physics need to be base on some theory, no matter how outlandish, whose proof is debatable and not clearly disproved.
To maintain plausibility, it is essential that the author is quite familiar with the subject or have the input of someone who does. Hence, the many thanks that unknowledgeable authors give to others.

Answer 6

All of those authors started with what they know. You have to look past the fantasy. Those authors had the ability to take what they knew and make it in to something that no one knew about. But all of it has a background. Prime examples?

C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. All fantasy, right?

Wrong. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is a chronicle of the Gospels. The entire series is an interpretation of World History from the beginning.

Star Wars. All Sci-Fi fantasy?

Nope. Also a chronicle of the Bible.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series... Fantasy in the wizarding world?

Yes and no. The seventh book reveals that she's really writing about human inability to empathize with others, and suggests that if everyone were a little more open to each other's ideas, we could unite and defeat greater evils. (world hunger, aids, cancer, that sort of thing).

Wizard of Oz/WICKED

All politics. Wizard of Oz about the Great Depression and the Silver ban in the U.S. WICKED, about the flaws of politics.

Answer 7

The woods, the coastline close to my auntie's flat - that's extra of a secret cove so there are merely some people there - mendacity flat on my abdomen on the floor of my dwelling room, on the ledge outdoors my horse's good are a number of my favourites. I write entire chapters in my head for the period of instructions in college and whilst i'm at artwork - I artwork in a eating place washing up so I in many cases get a great sort of writing completed there. If i don't have get admission to to paper and a pen I write concepts down as texts on my telephone and save them as drafts. My wide-unfold place is definitely the coastline yet i will purely pass there at weekends and trip journeys. :( BQ: could you say which you have an "over energetic mind's eye"..?? Definately, my strategies is often ticking over with a clean fiction thought. BQ2: what style of novels do you write? sort, I advise:) homicide secret, romance (not gross twilight intercourse romance, the coolest ol' formed perfect romantic romance) and a few comedy. BQ3: How long do you estimate your novel would be? notice count huge sort and/or web site # The final one i ended replaced into merely below the 70,000 notice marker.

Answer 8

I agree with Kate You must some knowledge of a subject before you can write about it at length. This site shows that we all have opinions and experience in a variety of matters. You are right in that what you write about has to be researched properly but your initial idea usually comes from experience or personal knowledge.

I may be mistaken, but I would think that the authors you mention probably wrote other things before they wrote their blockbusters, most likely from what they knew.

Answer 9

Writers research the subjects they are interested in writing about. So even though they themselves haven't actually experienced such things they have learned from the research & are able to construct a plausible storyline even if it is outside the realm of their reality.

Answer 10

You have a point but JRR Tolkien and JK Rowling DID write about what they know...they both invented their own universe. Who would know it better than them? Same with most science fiction - it's down to the writer's imagination.

The premise of 'write what you know' is that, for me, it would be pointless to set a story in New York or New Delhi - I've never been. I could write one set in Manchester, I could base one in most parts of England, I'd be sticking with what I know.