Serious question, does anyone else think the 'write what you know' advice is overrated?

I got stuck for almost two months trying to write a fantasy story set in a city like my hometown. I kept hitting walls because my real life there felt too boring to inspire anything. Finally, I gave up and wrote about a character who is a lighthouse keeper, which I know nothing about. I did some basic research online, but mostly just made it up. That story took me three days to draft and it's the best thing I've written all year. Why do we push new writers to stick only to their own experiences? Has anyone else found more freedom writing about things they don't know?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry_anderson545h ago

Rowanw91 has a good point about emotional truth. But sometimes the made-up stuff just clicks in a way your own backyard doesn't (weird, right?). The research sparks new ideas your own life wouldn't.

beng513h ago

My cousin wrote a sci-fi story about a space janitor, but the whole thing was really about the quiet anger he felt cleaning up after his messy roommates. The weird setting just gave him a place to put those real feelings.

rowanw915h ago

You're misunderstanding the advice. It's not about writing your exact life story. It's about using the emotional truths you know. You don't know lighthouse keeping, but you know isolation, or watching over something, or routine. That's the "what you know" part. The boring feelings from your hometown could have powered that fantasy city if you used them. The advice is meant to give depth, not limit your setting.