I followed the sage advice of an editor and friend, Vivian Caethe, and spent a year cleaving it in twain and turning each half into a stand-alone novel. Did they miss the part about how it was based on my personal reality? How it dripped with authenticity and numerous, complex, and simultaneous subplots that are the modern reality of organized crime investigations? The story was so rich with detail that readers had only heard rumor the main antagonist for the first 200 pages! I couldn’t understand why traditional publishers had no interest in it. Actually, a work of forest-clearing proportions that took five years of varying dedication to produce. Almost a decade ago, I returned to writing as self-therapy and put a novel together. Real badge, real gun, well, guns, and actual experience hunting, chasing, and intimidating those who victimize others. Glory, Shame, and Attempted Anonymity: How My Web of Lies and Deceit Facilitate my Brutal HonestyĪ bit of my background to put all this in perspective. And there’s a whole swathe of personal, ethical, and political considerations to bear in mind too. Or, at least, it should.īut, as Gavin will tell you, there’s more to creating an authentic story than just regurgitating facts. Gavin Reese (not his real name) is an Arizona cop, who has built a career helping to solve crimes and bring those responsible to justice.Īll this makes for great reading. So, today, I want to elaborate and share an example from real life. This is going to be different for everybody. In other words, use your experiences and personality to create something authentic, that’s a reflection of who you are and the ideas you want to express.

The advice “write what you know”, to me, means “write something that rings true for you”. So, of course, that advice needs to be adapted somewhat to your personal situation. Taken literally, entire genres like Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and speculative fiction go out the window.

47 comments How do You “Write What you Know”?Ī lot of writing pros will tell you to “write what you know”. But, obviously, that’s not particularly useful.

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