Write What You Know, and Other Urban Legends

Hotei pointing with the finger to the moon
Photo Credit: www.awakeblogger.com

Writing what you know is, perhaps, the most popular bit of advice that new writers receive.  At first blush, it seems to make sense: Start in a place you are comfortable and can talk about with confidence.

Ah, but there's the problem.  The beginning writer see this as permission to go on about the joys and sorrows of oatmeal breakfasts and trips to the mall.  Now mind you, it is possible to write something special about these subjects.  Some great fiction has been written about drinking beer in a Spanish train station, or buying a tea set.  The key, as Bruce Lee admonishes us, is emotional content.  It is not just about what we think, but what we feel.  Why is it important that we eavesdrop on the couple in the train station?  Why should we care about a man telling us about a Saturday night he spent as a boy?

Because we may have never done these things ourselves, but we have felt as these characters feel.  The reader wants to connect with the characters.  Perhaps we should replace "Write what you know," with "write what you feel." 

Perhaps Bruce should have the last word here.  This bit is from his movie, Enter the Dragon.  If you haven't seen it, wait no longer.  The writing you save may be your own:

Don't think, feel!
It is like a finger pointing away to the moon.
Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.--Bruce Lee