The Risk, the Reward of "Writing What You Know" by Natalie Sypolt in The Glimmer Train

The Risk, the Reward of "Writing What You Know" See Natalie Sypolt's article in The Glimmer Train. Natalie Sypolt lives and writes in West Virginia. She received her MFA in fiction from West Virginia University in 2005 and currently teaches writing at WVU.
Write what you know. Most writers have been told this at some point. Craft books say it, instructors instruct it, but what does it mean to truly "write what you know"?

' There wasn't an epiphany but a gradual understanding that to really be a writer, I had to get beyond my fear and write the truth. I don't know that I've accomplished this yet, but I am trying.'

'As teachers of writing, when we say to our students, "Write what you know," we should not be referring to occupation, vocation, even location. That limits the scope for fiction and isn't really getting to the core of the matter. When we say, "Write what you know,"

.....we should be talking about the interior. The crevices and courages of people. The frailties, weaknesses, heartbreaking beauty. This often will make people uncomfortable. It might also reveal something soft and tender about ourselves that we'd been hoping to protect, but that's the only way to get to the realness, what we truly know. The end result will be something golden, complicated, and lovely.