The Art of Reimagining the Familiar

“Write what you know.”

It’s advice we’ve all heard—but let’s be honest, it’s often misunderstood.

“Write what you know” doesn’t mean you have to stick to your hometown, your family dynamics, or your daily life. It means: Lean into what you do best.

What you know isn’t just the facts around you—it’s the feelings you understand, the perspectives you’ve lived, the themes that resonate in your life. Maybe you’ve never been a spy, but you know what betrayal feels like. Maybe you’ve never been a parent, but you understand unconditional love and protection.

That’s the real meaning of “write what you know”: your unique lens. The emotional truths, the observations, the things that live inside you—those are the things that will make your stories authentic.

So, take what you know—and make it new:

•  Flip the emotion. If you’re used to writing dark and brooding, try to be hopeful. If you lean on joy, explore grief.

• Shift the expectations. Write about love, but make it a different kind of love. Write about family, but set it in a dystopian world.

• Ask “What if...?” What if your expertise in coding turns into a story about a rogue AI? What if your love of baking becomes a cozy mystery series?

  
  

Your skills, your curiosities, your sensibilities, that’s your brand. That’s what makes your story so powerful. So, “write what you know” isn’t the whole story. It’s just the first step. Your real job is to turn it into something only you could write.