Expression vs. Experience

Writers often are advised to write what they know. The thinking behind this advice is that you will write best what you know best, and there is much wisdom to this advice. It is often what you are familiar with that you are most passionate about, and that passion is reflected in your writing. Writers tend to have more credibility with readers when they have personal knowledge or experience with their subject matter. The other side of the coin is that limiting yourself to writing only what you know can greatly restrict your creativity. The argument can be made that writers don't need to write only what they know. That's what imagination is for. The thinking here is that if you can imagine something, you can write it, and imaginative writing is just as passionate and powerful as writing that is informed by direct personal experience. There are also many examples of excellent writing that are the culmination of a writer's extensive research into a previously unfamiliar subject. Whether you write about what you know from personal experience or write about what you have come to know through research, the goal should be the same - effective, passionate writing that resonates with readers. It's not the source of your knowledge that matters to readers as much as the expression of it, and they will connect with anything you write as long as you connect meaningfully with them.