Struggling to find your story? Don't just write what you know
CBC Books | | Posted: September 19, 2019 4:17 PM | Last Updated: November 5, 2019
This writing tip is from Will Richter.
"I used to follow what I now consider to be pretty bad advice, that being, 'Write what you know.' That might be fine for some people — people who had interesting childhoods, for example, or people like John le Carré, who was a spy. But for me, write what you know often meant trying to squeeze my mundane experiences into things that were shaped like stories but actually weren't. So I let 'Write what you know' go and replaced it with 'Write what you like, so long as you can do so plausibly.'
"Since then I have had nothing but story ideas — not to mention a lot more fun. Now I doubt if that's good advice for everybody, but in my case, that freedom has been a real help and led directly to writing the story that was longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize."
Will Richter lives in Vancouver, where he works as a post-production script editor and freelance communications and magazine writer. He received his BA in English literature from Simon Fraser University, has published articles on everything from endangered rhinos to international quinoa scandals and now devotes his time to writing fiction. His short fiction has appeared in subTerrain magazine and was a runner-up in the Lush Triumphant Literary Awards competition. His story At a Distance made the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize longlist.