Write what you (don't) know by Eric Beetner

 CRAFT What are your thoughts on writing ‘outside your own experience’? What are the potential pitfalls? What are the reasons to do it? Can you give a personal example of how you navigated this potentially problematic terrain?

I’ve long been a critic of “write what you know” as writing advice. I’m a fan of write what you want to know.

Of course you will bring a unique, lived-in reality to your writing if you write from your own experience, but I also think personal experience can lie below any sto...