Screenwriting : The "write what you know" maxim by Jason Gray

It it very misunderstood. Once a writer understand what it actually means I agree; it's very freeing.

phhhffttt...write what you imagine. Who knew Klingons?

Carl, "write what you know" can refer to events in your life, but what it really means is to use and apply the emotions you have experienced through those life events to fuel your stories and add depth to your characters -- Klingon or otherwise. Ever experience loss? Jealously? Love? Loneliness? Pride? Anger? Those emotions that you know intimately through personal experience can bring an authenticity to your story, to your writing. "Write what you know" can help your story and characters feel genuine, not contrived. :)

Sorry, guys, I couldn't disagree with you more. It's about emotional awareness in your writing. But, to each their own!

I have adhered to it subconsciously. My characters are only those "who I know" because they all want something better for themselves and the world around them. My stories tend to have a musical element because of my musical background. I'm a true crime buff and I tried to write a cop drama with a male lead and it didn't land the way I wanted it to. I didn't want to dig deep into criminal minds and situations because that creeps me out lol. I wrote two other scripts with male leads and they don't do quite as well as the ones I write with women leads. So my take...I agree with Beth, it's effective :). No single way is cut and dried, but it's good advice.

"Write what you know" is about what you know from your own emotional experiences -- emotional awareness. For example, I lost both my parents in the past three years. If one of my characters has lost someone, perhaps I can borrow little moments or emotional reactions, knowledge from my own life experience and give it to that character. It adds an emotional truth that can be visceral to someone else. It hits universal truth with detail that is authentic, real. More importantly, it can cause your audience to truly "feel" something which is just good storytelling.

I understand the "write what you know" idea, but I'm much more a fan of "write what you're curious about." I know how to do laundry. I'm not going to write about laundry.

I think it also speaks to the need for research. "Write what you know. Know what you write"

Yeah, the mundane is mundane. And, "write what you're curious about" is fantastic, exciting. Adding what you know emotionally to those characters/stories that you are curious about just adds more depth -- that's all. :) Hey, it's not an exact science; it's art; it's storytelling. Use, do whatever works best for you. :)

I agree! I have never been in a cult, but I know I'm scared of them, that they give me the creeps, that they seem strange and foreign and that they have a kind of mysterious draw, usually coming from a charismatic leader... I used that to craft a large part of our film: http://ow.ly/LBmVR

Think of the inverse: "Go watch what you know." No thank you.

So you're saying my story of putting my laundry on the clothes line during the Civil War, LAUNDRY WITH THE WIND, wasn't a good script idea?

What Beth is saying is close to my thinking. I used to counter with "write what…" alternatives, too, because I couldn't conceive of "write what you know" as an overriding concept. Someone mentioned Klingons. If you wanted to write a great Klingon character, "write what you know" could mean drawing on your expertise about a great military leader, or it could mean pulling emotional truth from a tyrannical father, or teacher. Great actors draw on what they know all the time. Recently heard an interview with Mickey Rourke about "The Wrestler," where he talked about the now classic scene at the old fairground with his daughter. Rourke's never had children, so he drew on his distant relationship with his father to find emotional truth.

Sounds like a good yarn to me, William. I like historical dramas. lol! :)

Umm, I actually wrote a short horror story about laundry. Every night the girl sees her dressing gown hanging on the door and at night it looks like a man standing there and then one night it attacks her. The end. Scary stuff I tell you.

As for writing what I know there is merit in that if say you have some profession like medicine or a lawyer, but I don't so I go to the far end of the other side and write very imaginative stories. Pure fantasies, sci-fis etc. Write what you don't know, but what no one else knows either so they can't call you out.

Again, even with pure fantasy or sci-fi, "write what you know" can make it richer. I urge you to read Wikipedia's "influences" section on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy -- arguably the greatest work of fantasy ever created: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings#Influences

If you can dream it, write it. But a little research can't hurt either.

There are a surprising amount of books and films where the protagonist is a writer. It's a personal turn off, but some of them are certainly in my favorites list.

I can't stomach books, films or tv shows about writers. It feels so self indulgent.

To me 'write what you know' mean don't be a fake. You want to write about spacemen - what would you do, if you were trapped out there? It's about what's in your heart and life experience. Plus, we all write for different reasons. If you're true to yourself and your motives, then the work rings true (as long as you have enough craft to back up the inspiration).

I apply it topically to my bum.

I think inspiration comes from everywhere and everything, including your own life and own thoughts :)

Yeah, I personally don't like the term "write what you know." To me, it's complete nonsense because what you know now may not be what you know 50 years from now. I think the reality is that we write what we experience, then question everything about that experience to add layers. Your protagonist and antagonist are both bits and pieces of you, since you created them. Now I love taking experience and asking what if after every one of them. What if I turned a blind eye to something happening right in front of me, only to discover both eyes were blind? What if I went my own way, only to discover that was actually the way my parents wanted me to go? The what if game is a blast.

What if the lost sock was a carnivorous alien postman? Ha ha, John.

I get it, Owen. You're not the sensitive type. Haha! ;)

As a kid, I was a fan of those determine your adventure type of books, like Zork. I think that's the joy of writing, you're the commander of every outcome. As a fan of movies, I like to really play to my inner audience. What would I like to see? What made me love certain movies more than others? The simple answer is character identification, the writer created a character I could relate to. That's really what it all boils down to, creating characters everyone can relate to then put them in situations that either everyone would want to be in or that no one would ever want to be in. Then let them sit back and enjoy the ride.

My postman is an alien, all the dogs recognize this.

It means nothing, really. All the art we do is about accessing creativity. We block creatively when we get scared, period. The more training we have the better we can access "what we know", and do it under pressure. If you want to write, learn how to do it from the best possible sources. If words just come out of you, fantastic. If they don't, then train.

Thought I'd take a look back at this interesting thread. There really is a lot of resistance to the "write what you know" concept. Throw away what you think it means. Here's a short but good piece: http://bigthink.com/think-tank/write-what-you-know-nil-the-most-misunder...

It is all fake, great storytellers know how to create emotions, empathy, drama with characters. storytelling craft. It can be taught. But imagination and your point of view-- that is your fingerprint.

What Dan said. Plus, if you don't know it. LEARN IT! You know, do research and stuff. Do the work.

You are human beings, are you not? Then you are writing "what you know." Lol! ...Man, you guys sure like to consider things literally. Whereas it's within its figurative meaning that offers more insight and depth. But, to each their own: Literally. Figuratively. Or both. It's all good! ;)