WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

THERE'S NOTHING HARD ABOUT WRITING. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SIT DOWN AND OPEN UP A VEIN.
Walter "Red" Smith

What I find to be the most common and glaring fault in writing is the lack of a genuine viewpoint. No matter how fascinating or well-written the story is, I will not enjoy it, because it is evident to me that the author did not actually believe the story he was telling was important.

In every creative writing class at every high school or college, one golden law is upheld with the utmost seriousness: "Write what you know." If you are a wealthy suburban teenager who has never set foot outside your tri-state area and you decide to write about the miserable slums of a dead-end street you've never seen, it will show in your writing. No matter how much the subject matters to you, no matter how much you care about real people suffering from poverty or hunger, no matter how much the story needs to be told, you will always sound like you do not know what you are talking about, or that the extent of your experience with poverty has been a Google image search of the word.

To write a truly captivating and moving story, you must write about what you yourself have gone through. You want to write about those slums? Sleep there for a few nights. Gone through a true emotional crisis? Fantastic; your story will be sincere and truthful.

Not that writing about these things is easy; the above quote was written with a great deal of sarcasm. Although writing about emotional turmoil or abuse can be extremely therapeutic, it can also cause painful memories to resurface. There are things that are better left simply confided in friends or family for some people. There are other things, however, that scream to be revealed to the waking world, things that people wonder about. Just like yourself, there are numerous people ask every day, "Has anyone else ever gone through this? Are there other people who feel this way?" On the other end of the spectrum there are people who have never known suffering or sadness who will be educated and informed by your writing.

Of course, there are many who would want these things left in the dark, but if you have the ambition to bring them to light, you'll know it from the start.


WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW.

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