Thursday, April 24, 2014

Write what you... want

This goes without saying (or at least, I hope it does...), but today I was watching my youngest daughter play softball, and I turned to my husband and said, "You know what? I need to write about a softball-playing MC."

and then he said,

"You don't know enough about it."

This was me, then:



Of course, he wasn't saying I couldn't write. He's quite the supportive guy. He wasn't *trying* to be negative at all. But, like so many do, he immediately thought that since I've only watched my girls play but don't know all of the technical stuff, I really shouldn't be trying to write about it.

To which I say...

WRONG.

We see "write what you know" so often (true, it's good to do, it works--I can't just presume I know what life in Belgium is like and write like I do), but at the same time, it's okay to step out of that box and do research. It's okay to push the envelope a little and strive to learn about things you might not know much about. It's okay to educate yourself in order to be a better writer.

So, that's the point of my post today. Short and sweet, and to the point. Write what you want, folks. Write what makes you happy. And at the end of the day, you'll not only be proud of what you've accomplished, but you will have had a good time doing it. Isn't that what makes writing worth it, in the end, anyway?

5 comments:

Angelica R. Jackson said...

Yep! That's what research is FOR!

feywriter said...

Yes! Thank you for saying this. Expanding our horizons, even if we never experience something firsthand, can make for better stories.

Jessica L. Brooks (coffeelvnmom) said...

Exactly, Angelica! And Mary, yes, "expanding our horizons" is a GREAT way to put it! :)

The Writer Librarian said...

Yes! I'd also like to add: "Write what you love."

Jessica L. Brooks (coffeelvnmom) said...

Oh yes!!!