This, That, and the Other

“That adage about ‘write what you know’ is basically the opposite of the way I function. I write about what I’m curious to find out.”

Jennifer Egan, American novelist

Okay, yes, this one-liner is actually a two-liner. But it’s no less an interesting message. A lot of truly great writers have advised wannabe writers to write about what they know. Makes sense, right?

But as Jennifer Egan suggests, if you write about something you’re curious to know, you’ll research it and will, therefore, end up writing about what you know. That, too, makes sense.

Although, I might modify Jennifer’s quote slightly. Because if I had to personally know about everything I wanted to write about, I wouldn’t have that much to write about. So instead, I’d say, “Write about what you’re curious to find out…or whatever your imagination conjures up.”

Written for today’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt from Linda G. Hill. Image credit: Lysons_editions (Pixabay.com).