Writing Tales, Triumphs, and Tribulations: Writing What You Know

January 17, 2005

Writing What You Know

I am paraphrasing substantially here, but I read a great line in a Herald Tribune book review this week:

"The problem with the admonition to write what you know is that in America what most people know is that adolescence leads to being cranky with your parents."

I have to agree that I am just numb with boredom by the amount of really-not-that-interesting memoirs and fictionalized-memoirs that abound lately.

(This has not stopped me from wanting to write my OWN memoirs of course. . . I mean I'm sure they'd be just a fantastic read! Really. At least for me.)

Posted by karenceliafox at January 17, 2005 09:32 AM

Comments

"Write what you know" isn't meant to be a limit...

Posted by: janra at January 17, 2005 11:05 AM

Yes -- that's very nicely put. . . And I certainly agree that writing what you know is going to improve one's writing a lot more often than it won't! If one is stuck writing about the same-old, same-old the problem doesn't point to not knowing much, but to not delving into all the other things you could push yourself to write about. Another example of bad writing, even?

Posted by: Karen at January 17, 2005 01:12 PM

I've kind of taken "write what you know" to be an invitation to KNOW MORE STUFF. This has certainly been the case when working on THE QUILL. I've done more research on this darned thing than I did on my capstone project at UMD, to the point where I was watching a History Channel special on stolen antiquities tonight and I knew (almost) all the stories before the voice-over guy got to tell us about them.

The only problem? The minute I finish this book, all that acquired knowledge will become essentially useless, and I'll have to go out and learn MORE STUFF to write the NEXT book. Sigh.

Posted by: James at January 24, 2005 09:27 PM



My newest book will be out in July. Preorder it now -- just click on it, go to Amazon, and help me earn royalties! And you can still buy my last book, The Big Bang Theory. Powered by Movable Type 2.661			« Rewrites \| Main \| Japan. . . » January 17, 2005 Writing What You Know I am paraphrasing substantially here, but I read a great line in a Herald Tribune book review this week: "The problem with the admonition to write what you know is that in America what most people know is that adolescence leads to being cranky with your parents." I have to agree that I am just numb with boredom by the amount of really-not-that-interesting memoirs and fictionalized-memoirs that abound lately. (This has not stopped me from wanting to write my OWN memoirs of course. . . I mean I'm sure they'd be just a fantastic read! Really. At least for me.) Posted by karenceliafox at January 17, 2005 09:32 AM Comments "Write what you know" isn't meant to be a limit... Posted by: janra at January 17, 2005 11:05 AM Yes -- that's very nicely put. . . And I certainly agree that writing what you know is going to improve one's writing a lot more often than it won't! If one is stuck writing about the same-old, same-old the problem doesn't point to not knowing much, but to not delving into all the other things you could push yourself to write about. Another example of bad writing, even? Posted by: Karen at January 17, 2005 01:12 PM I've kind of taken "write what you know" to be an invitation to KNOW MORE STUFF. This has certainly been the case when working on THE QUILL. I've done more research on this darned thing than I did on my capstone project at UMD, to the point where I was watching a History Channel special on stolen antiquities tonight and I knew (almost) all the stories before the voice-over guy got to tell us about them. The only problem? The minute I finish this book, all that acquired knowledge will become essentially useless, and I'll have to go out and learn MORE STUFF to write the NEXT book. Sigh. Posted by: James at January 24, 2005 09:27 PM The story of a girl trying to write some fiction. Recent Entries Einstein's Birthday Talk Good Editors Crazed Life Back in the Saddle E-mail Access! Japan. . . Writing What You Know Rewrites Writing Conflict Kyoto! Categories Book Writing Business of Writing Craft of Writing Day-to-Day Freelancing Magazine Writing When I'm Being Lame Writing Group Archives March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 October 2003 September 2003 Search Search this site: