Should authors always write what they know?
by 
keithold thanks all baggers
ANSWERS: 11
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If writers only did that, there would never be any science fiction or fantasy.
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Is that why Stephen King scares me so much??
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They should write what they want, although knowing something about their subject of interest might help, whether that's the content, or the style in which to write it.
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Not even in non-fiction. Poetic license is always allowed.
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Some of the most enduring writers have done just that: Mark Twain, F Scott Fitzgerald, Joseph Conrad, Tim O'Brien, Flannery O'Connor, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, John Knowles, Betty Smith, Herman Melville, Ken Kesey, Charles Dickens. Their most glowing works are those that deal with their own experiences. When authors write what they know, the stories seem more rich and are easily assimilated into contemporary culture.
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I think what's important is to write with conviction.
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No, they write what they want to write about and then research the subject. This takes lots of time. I've heard of writers taking years to complete books because they have to travel, gather information, and then write.
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Always? I think its a great rule of thumb
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Depends on the book...the more knowledge, imagination, and experience can make a book sell more...rather makes the whole thing mare believeable ??? +4
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Two schools of thought. One is research can make a writer know anything. The other is that a cliche like that would be ignored by all good writers.
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Writers can make up any surface feature of their story that they like. But if they wish to write well, everything else has to come from their own experience.
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