They say write what you know. Sounds simple enough. But when writing fiction, you’ll inevitably have to write about things you’ve never experienced. What do you do then?
You can always do research, and read about other people’s personal experiences. It can be helpful, but often it can come across as just spitting back something you heard or read, not something you experienced, and sometimes the reader will be able to tell that the feeling behind it is hollow.
Your own personal experiences are the best wells to draw from. Just because you didn’t experience something exactly doesn’t mean that you can’t approximate your experiences and adapt them to suit the story. For example, I did not go to a public high school. I went to a private religious boys-only school. As such, I never experienced a high school romance. In fact, teenage dating is alien to me. However, my high school experience was not without drama, and my college experience was not without dating. By drawing from my high school and college experiences, I was able to write scenes taking place in a public school that felt grounded and real, even if I did not have those exact experiences myself.
When it comes the the more fantastical elements to a story, one can still draw from personal experiences. It just requires a little exaggeration. I may not know what it’s like to turn into a seven-foot-tall green rage-monster, but I know what it’s like to be angry. I know what it feels like to have that power and adrenaline coursing through me, and how easy it can be to lose oneself to the blinding rage, doing as one pleases without thought of consequence. I don’t know what it feels like to fly, but I know the feeling of exhilaration when the roller coaster drops, leaving my stomach behind as the ground rushes by me, my face fighting against the wind. Just take what you experienced and exaggerate it, and it will read better than simply imagining it and writing that down.
Whenever able, write what you know, even if you don’t know it.
Michael Lachman Writes 
I agree, Michael. Most of us who write fiction venture into the realm of the imagination all the time. As a fantasy writer, it’s a given. That said, we can extrapolate human experience with some confidence since much of it is universal. 🙂 I think knowing the limits of our experience is important too. For example, It would probably be difficult to write a credible book about sailing around the world, if one had never sailed. As usual, the author needs to make a judgment – it’s never simply one or the other :-).
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Well said. At some point, we’ll be writing what we don’t know, but we can usually work our own experiences and emotions into the parts we had to research, so it hopefully comes out meaningful to the reader.
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