Bad books on writing tell you to “WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW”, a solemn and totally false adage that is the reason there exist so many mediocre novels about English professors contemplating adultery.
— Joe Haldeman
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2 comments:
It's a decent enough adage so long as you work under the assumption that if you don't know anything interesting, you shouldn't be writing.
If you don't know anything about romance, you shouldn't write a romance novel. If you don't know anything about espionage, you shouldn't write a spy novel. If you don't know anything about sailing, you shouldn't write a pirate novel. If you don't know anything about police work, you shouldn't write a crime novel. If you don't know anything about the military, you shouldn't write a war novel. Etc, etc.
If the only thing you know is academia, mediocrity, and marital discontent, then you should maybe take up a hobby instead of trying to write a book.
Brilliant.
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