I’ve seen a lot of contention over this phrase in the writing community for years, and I wanted to share my own understanding of it, and how I apply it to my own writing about a scifi war, when I’ve never been in war or (shockingly) into space.

Write What You Sorta Know

When I was in theatre back in those youngin days of being a high schooler, my incredible director (whom we called Ringmaster), taught us a trick for amplifying emotions in our craft. She used the following example:

Say you’re playing a killer. This killer really wants to kill this one person. But you’ve never been a killer–i hope–so how do you get into that headspace? Well, have you ever had that one damn fly landing on your face for hours? No matter how often you swat it away or try to get it away from you, it keeps bugging you. Have you wanted to kill it? Have you wished it dead? Did you hunt down a flyswatter with that desire to kill that small, annoying creature so you could be at peace? Channel that. This person you want to kill is this irritating insect that you just can’t wait to be rid of. That you cannot wait to kill. 

For me, writing what you know hasn’t been a literal thing. While I think there are arguments to be made about Own Voices and making sure those in minority groups get to tell their own stories, for things such as writing killers, or writing people different from you, you can use this technique. Here’s another example:

I have never had a romantic relationship. Nor have I had a sexual one. I’ve not felt these feelings towards anyone else, so how can I accurately write them?

Obviously, I’ve gotta do some research first. Understand how people talk about their partners, how they interact with their partners, etc. Luckily for my research endeavors, the world is built around romance, so this part isn’t difficult.

But how does this relate to what I know? I might not feel those strong tuggings towards another person sexual or romantically, but I do develop strong platonic bonds with people. My friendships make me emotional, make me care, make me invest in other people I love. So I channel that and use what I know from my research to alter it and make it more authentic in what I create. Start with a platonic base, with those feelings I’m familiar with such as affection, the desire to be liked, the desire to get to know someone, then built upon them with the desire to kiss, the desire to be intimate, etc. Just because I’ve not experienced it myself doesn’t mean I can’t write authentic scenes if I pull from my own experiences and from my research. 

Hopefully that helps anyone else struggling to understand this saying! My examples might not be perfect, so feel free to drop a few of your own in the comments, or if you hate the saying, why you hate it. 

All the best! <3

Lauren