We hear that phrase all the time. Some say it is the basis of good writing, especially for new writers. Others claim it’s false, that writers should be able to write anything, or they are at their best when having to dig down and research.

But there’s more to writing “what you know” than to reference the education, history, experience, hobbies, and profession of a writer’s life.

I recently ran across this quote from Virginia Woolf in an essay in The New Yorker.

“Let us record the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall, let us trace the pattern, however disconnected and incoherent in appearance, which each sight or incident scores upon the consciousness. Let us not take it for granted that life exists more fully in what is commonly thought big than in what is commonly thought small.”  ~Virginia Woolf

Writing what you know isn’t necessarily from a macro viewpoint. In other words, not necessarily from a big picture or factual knowledge aspect.

Writing what you know could be defined as how well you picture life. In other words, you don’t necessarily see a boat on the water. You see the spray leaving drops on the Bimini top. Instead of a lady holding roses, you see the wilted petal on the one rose pushed to the back.

Some say you have to be of a certain age to capture such details. You have grown beyond thinking of self or the judgment of others, that there is no more proving of self but instead recording what life is drawing for your eye. Regardless, realize that writing what you know might be more a matter of writing what you see.