Write what you know

Tags: Writing CharacterizationCharacterization
References


Writers are often advised to "write what you know." This axiom is often misunderstood to mean that writers should confine themselves to events or places with with which they have direct, lived experience.

But what it really means is that writers should draw from their own emotional lives, pulling from the feelings that events and experiences have provoked. Characters and stories should be based on aspects of one's personality that are elevated by novel settings or circumstances to create something wholly new.

  • See Characters personify specific aspects of the authorCharacters personify specific aspects of the author
    Tags: [[Writing]] [[Characterization]]

    Compelling characters are often drawn from the lived experience of the author. Authors will often select some aspect of themselves and amplify it through the...
    - Authors draw their characters from specific aspects of themselves or others they know

References


Bird 2016 Novelry 2020