If you are asked to list the writing advice you’ve been given, your list will be similar to others. Show don’t tell. The three act structure. Write what you know. This last one is what we’re going to look at today. Specifically, what it means, what the perks are, and how to do it.

The phrase write what you know means to choose an aspect of yourself or life and build a story around it. But there’s more to it than that. More than just writing a story based in your hometown or incorporating your hobby into the plot. Writing what you know means to add the emotions that go along with those.

Seems simple, but what if you write epic fantasies, space operas, or historical fiction? These genres don’t match how you live (I’m just guessing on that part) so does this advice apply to you? I say yes.

What Are the Perks of Writing What You Know?

What is the point of adding a part of yourself to your manuscript? If you tell an interesting story, such as a great mystery filled with intricate clues or a fantasy with incredibly detailed world building, shouldn’t that be enough?

Not if you want to connect with readers, which is the first perk to writing what you know. Yes, we want to entertain, maybe impart a lesson, but to have a reader make a connection with a story, envision themselves as part of it, maybe even as the main character, is the best response you can get.

I wrote a little more about the author-reader relationship here.

In my debut young adult novel, List of Ten, a teen with Tourette syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder struggles to find happiness through the pain. This book was easy to incorporate a part of myself because I have Tourette syndrome and OCD and it’s an own voices novel. Although the plot is different than my life, the main character’s feelings of living with these disorders are similar to mine. It is because I was able to incorporate the emotion that the responses from readers couldn’t be better. They felt the pain and hope of the main character. They used worlds like inspiring, heartrending, and life-affirming.

It’s that connection a reader makes with a story that leads to the other perks. The more personally invested a reader is, the more likely they are to recommend the book to others either through reviews or word of mouth. They are also more likely to read your other books. And let’s face it, we know writers love to write and we would do it regardless, but we really want to sell books.

How to Add Writing What You Know to Your Story

After List of Ten, I began a new project with different characters and a completely unrelated plot. It’s a good story (at least I think so) but my first attempt was flat. Why? I disregarded the advice we’re talking about now. None of the characters, emotionally or physically, resembled me. The setting, while contemporary, did not match my lifestyle, and the details of the plot were different than anything I’d written or lived before. The parts that should have given it meaning were missing and the lack of connection was obvious.

How do we make that connection? All aspects of a story interact with each other and choosing even one option will increase depth and meaning to your entire story. Emotions, even a lack of, determines the choices characters make, which drives the plot.

Character Traits – The main character or secondary characters can share specific characteristics with you. Are you neurodivergent or disabled and choosing to write a character with the same disorder? Are you writing about your culture or religion? You may not realize how they affect your daily life and choices you make. For example, do you use the elevator instead of stairs, do you bring food from your country to school? These may seem unimportant to others, but how do you feel about them? Do you miss people because you take a different route? What about when you’re questioned about your heritage? How would these examples play into a story about team work?

Character Personality Traits – This can be anything from hesitant to courageous, quiet to boisterous. There are many different personalities and therefore, many different responses to situations. A shy or hesitant person may not volunteer for a group project leaving him to be placed in a group of bullies instead of with friends. If you are that hesitant personality, can you write a courageous character with as much depth and emotion that is necessary to connect with the reader?

Plot and Storyline – Writing what you know for the plot can take the form of any event in your life. Your parent’s divorce, a friendship breakup, or an amazing event like winning a competition. All of these events are extremely emotional. And while you are not writing your story, emotions you felt at the time (even if it occurred a long time ago) will undoubtedly resurface. And as a result, the conflicts and resolutions in the story will have more intensity.

Setting – As writers, I feel we don’t use setting to its fullest potential. Think about a place from your childhood. Let’s use your grade school. (I chose that because a lot of children’s books use school as at least one setting) What did it look like? Smell like? Were the other kids nice? How did you feel when you were there? Was it a sanctuary or a prison?

Writing what you know isn’t saying you have to write an autobiography. It is giving you a tool to add emotion and depth to your story, a necessary component when connecting with readers. I will leave you with one more example, this one from my work in progress.

The main character is a girl who has been spoken over and disregarded most of her life. The character is very much like me, but it’s not my story. (How boring would that be!) Instead, I’m putting her in completely different setting, giving her unique passions, and throwing in a dead body. (Now that’s interesting!) But through it all, what connects the main character and myself is how she is treated by others. It is that personality trait that leads her to the dead body in the first place (setting) and will determine the choices she makes (plot)

And one more tool. For more information on the importance of setting in your story, check out this post: Setting as a Character.