Stop Writing What You Know and Start Writing What You Care About
Why passion can’t be ignored and how we can use it to our advantage
By this point, most of us scroll past the “write what you know” advice, especially in its basic form.
Yes, we typically need to use it, and it does inform our niches (since those are where we house our expertise).
It may not be the world’s most creative advice, but it is tried and true to an extent.
But “writing what I know” in the traditional sense has never been able to keep me going.
It’s not going to keep you going, either.
As for “Write what you know,” I was regularly told this as a beginner. I think it’s a very good rule and have always obeyed it. I write about imaginary countries, alien societies on other planets, dragons, wizards, the Napa Valley in 22002. I know these things. I know them better than anybody else possibly could, so it’s my duty to testify about them. — Ursula K. Le Guin
Write What You Care About
The reason the Ursula K. Le Guin quote above is so satisfying to me is because it combines two things:
- The necessity of writing “what you know” and
- What we know is often just what we care about.
