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Tag Archives: Write What You Know

On Writing What You Know: How to Write What You Know

This week I stopped complaining about restrictive writing rules in favor of more generous advice. It’s really a continuation of the same theme, though. Write what you know. and Tell your readers what they need to know. The trick to both of those, really, is knowing what you know (and, of course, what you need [...]

On Writing What You Know: You’re Not Too Boring to Tell a Story

Yesterday I told the story of my second novel…again. I’m well aware that I’ve talked about that book several times around here (and I’m certain I will again). In fact, the last time I mentioned it previously, I described it like this: The Poet Alexander is basically the 180,000-word story of my adolescence, chronicling my [...]

On Writing What You Know: High School

I wrote my first novelĀ  in high school, and it was a very high school sort of book. I spent a lot of time back then priding myself on being above the stupid high school drama going on all around me…and, of course, I was completely full of it. I’ve already introduced you to Trish. [...]

What Should You Write About?

I’m writing to the bloggers, the business writers, and for you guys, “Write what you know” is your bread and butter. “Write what you know” is the answer to questions you haven’t even considered yet.

Technical writing is all about translating understanding — it’s about converting expert information into a more easily accessible format. Whenever you’re writing, your job is to take the things you understand, that your readers don’t, and help your readers understand them.