on Writers Helping Writers:

Savannah Cordova suggests ditching writing what you know for the new and improved version: Know what you write.

Show-don’t-tell! Kill your darlings! Don’t use adverbs! Sound familiar? Most writers will probably recognize the long list of industry sayings that seemingly crop up in every single writing space. And the one that’s arguably the most famous is: “Write what you know.”

Of course, it’s easy to roll your eyes at this old adage, even to view it as a creativity-killing limitation. But is there some truth to it?

I’ll dive into what it really means to “write what you know” and compare it to its alternative (i.e., “write what you don’t know.”) Let’s start from the top!