Write What You Know

At some point in your writing career, you will come across this little nugget of wisdom. Attributed but not traced to Mark Twain, this often-repeated piece of advice can leave fledgling writers confused and possibly even deter them from pursuing any kind of writing.

How can I write a murder mystery when I’ve never witnessed or committed a murder?

The closest I’ve ever come to space is being herded on to an aeroplane, so I can’t write about that.

I don’t know what it feels like to have my husband betray me, or to live on a ranch, or…

You get the idea. If we take this literally, then all my characters would be introvert females who run away at the first sign of excitement. I can promise, that would not make a thrilling book!

So, what does it really mean? I think it is about weaving threads of reality amongst your fantastic imaginings so the reader can believe they exist. It is the glue that holds a world together. It is the familiar that your readers can hang on to as they climb the mountain with you.

My friend Johnathan Reid writes science-fiction. He was telling me the other day that he has finally worked out how he can get an eagle to fly in zero gravity. He did this, not by trial and error, obviously, but by research and theorising. Like me, he’s never been to space, but he has read widely and learnt the science in order to make it work. He is writing what he knows. (If you want to read his first book, Ingression, it is available on substack.)

In my book Secrets of the Towers, Reez has to learn how to manipulate metal. Which meant I had to learn how to manipulate metal! Not having a friendly blacksmith to call on, I watched videos on YouTube and read articles online so that I would have a passing knowledge to give my story a firm anchor in reality. Using the correct terminology, describing the processes, and making Reez fail over and over, all helped to weave the magic into my world and make it believable.

If you want to write about fighting with a sword, or riding a horse, or sailing a ship, make sure that you do your research beforehand.

Writing what you know also means channelling your emotions and experiences into your stories. My mum died as I was writing Master and Apprentice after suffering from dementia for years. I sat with her every day for two weeks as she faded away and was privileged to be holding her hand when she took her final breath. When Reez loses his mother and is standing at the graveside, he is filled with regrets and “what ifs”. Much of that came straight from my heart. Wicton’s wise words of comfort and hope were also mine, knowing death is not necessarily the end. Use your life experiences to bring realistic emotional responses to your characters.

I’ve never ridden a dragon, much to my intense disappointment, and as far as I know, there are no dragon riding schools that can teach me. However, I have ridden a roller coaster, sat pillion on a motorbike, and flown in an aeroplane. I know what it feels like to travel at speed, to twist and dive before climbing back up again, to view the world from above the clouds. By transferring those experiences into a fantasy setting, I can easily imagine what it might feel like to sit astride a dragon and be taken for a terrifying ride. Despite its seeming impossibility, I am still writing what I know.

You owe it to your readers to give them as much truth in your stories as you can. They may stop reading if you have your horses gallop across the country because a horse can only maintain a fast gallop for about two minutes before fatigue sets in. Or the first time your protagonist picks up a sword they kill the gang of murderous thugs descending on them despite never having fought before.

My personal annoyance is when needles are jabbed into characters necks, and they slump down immediately, because the chance of hitting a blood vessel as opposed to nerves or muscle is slim and even if they did, it would still take time for a drug to have an effect. (Ex-nurse here!) If you need to incapacitate someone immediately, unless you are a Vulcan, you need to find a different way.

Write what you know is good advice. Use your knowledge, your experiences, your emotions, and your research to bring your worlds to life and immerse your readers in a thrilling ride. They will not only thank you for it but will come back for more.

What kind of examples take you out of a reading experience and make you lose interest? Let me know in the comments.