Write What You Know?! But I Don’t Know Anything!

Filed in: Blog   

by Eilis Flynn

You’ve heard it, time and time again, when it comes to writing. “Write what you know” is always the advice. “But what if my life is really boring?” the question always comes. I have yet to hear the perfect reply to that one. And if your life isn’t boring, well, my sympathies, because you probably have enough going on in your life and you don’t need to worry about your writing. Perhaps you do have quite enough to write about, and this blog post is, let’s face it, feh, not for you. What to write about poses no challenge to you. You most likely have more than plenty to write about.

Not so for everyone, Ms. My Life Is Complicated And So I Must Use Parts Of It In My Writing! “Write what you know” only goes so far. What if all you know about is the machinations of Wall Street publications, most of which is unreadable and boring to boot? I’m not going to write about that. What if all you know is multitranche stock offerings or even (shudder) collateralized mortgage obligations? You REALLY don’t want to write about that one! It could be worse: maybe all you know is legal stuff, which I’m told is even more boring than Wall Street stuff. It is entirely possible the combination (Wall Street legalese) may be the ultimate solution to insomina. In fact, the thought is …zzz

Huh? What was I saying? Right, right, writing what you know. Anyway, it’s a challenge for some of us. For some of us, “what you know” somehow translates into nothing about our lives, but something else.

My newest book, INTRODUCING SONIKA, is and isn’t a “what you know” thing. How could it be anything I would have any experience in? After all, it’s about how a young woman comes back into the family business of superheroing when she meets a guy she wants to protect. I can assure you, I am no superheroine, my family has had no history of superheroing, and my husband, better known as The Hub, can protect himself (which is why he cooks very well, but that’s another story altogether, one involving my experimental cooking technique). Despite all that, SONIKA is a “what you know” book.

When I was a kid, I read comics – specifically superhero comics. I decided to stop reading comics when I turned 14. I figured I was growing up, and I should, as they say, “set aside childish pursuits.” It didn’t take; I took up the habit again only months later, and after that, there was no going back.

Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman…I was always a DC Comics girl. Never got out of that habit, Marvels were always second-best as far as I was concerned. I went to college, got to write a few Superman-family stories (Lori Lemaris, Lex Luthor, Clark Kent) for the comic-book company, made lifelong friendships with other comic fans. In particular there were other fans interested in a team called the Legion of Super-Heroes, the fan club for which was started by a guy who wrote into the letters column of Adventure Comics, where the Legion strip lived back then, inviting those who were interested in the team to join a fan club. I liked the team well enough, and I certainly liked the guy well enough: years later he became The Hub.

Eventually, I did grow up – sort of – but the friendships remained and the heart of those comic stories lingered, eventually forming the essence of INTRODUCING SONIKA.

So when the advice of “Write what you know” comes up, I have to remind myself that “what you know” may not necessarily be the adventures of your lifetime. It could also be the Adventure of your heart.

Eilis Flynn’s latest book, INTRODUCING SONIKA, is available from cerridwenpress.com. She has known Nancy Northcott for many, many years through comics fandom. Thanks for the invitation to guest-blog, Nancy!

11 Comments