I’m going to float a view on writing about what you know. | 

Like many writing advice truisms, “write what you know” is an example of training wheels, helpful for a new writer who has yet to learn to balance—find their style, their voice.

But you might say, Don’t start sentences with but.

And never and.

Or as Churchill said, “From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.”Show, don’t tell is a great rule, but applied religiously can bog a story down. Pithy exposition can move the narrative along to the next beat, skipping the everyday, give me, and “the paint dried” over a thousand words describing how paint dries.

Write what you know is a great way to learn how to write. Telling a novice to bring personal experience into a story will teach me by doing, and I’ll learn good habits by leveraging natural storytelling.

I’ve often referenced the iceberg analogy that Hemingway used, because it resembles real life.

We tell stories, or in normal people’s parlance, as we talk about our day, “I was in the drug store and my phone rang, so I called in at my friends quickly.” We season our natural speech with adverbs, colloquialisms and details relevant to the story, but we filter out much more.

After the pharmacy, if I call in at my friends, I might drive over the narrow bridge, round by the church where Tom almost ran over Bill, a couple of years ago, and avoid the pothole the council hasn’t filled yet, while noting the rainbow across the valley because it’s sunshine and showers, and note the hawk in the sky.In reality, I might say, “I called in at Tom’s and saw a hawk take a rabbit in the field” because that’s the story. The rest is the part of the iceberg under the water.

Writing about what we know is a good way of working out how much seasoning the narrative needs, and how real emotions and physical sensations can add depth to a story.

What happens is we get to know how to write—in our own voice.A historical fiction writer looking at the Golden Age of Piracy or the Napoleonic Wars might have served the armed forces, but did they fire a musket or a cannon? Perhaps, but they can’t truly understand what 17th or 18th Century warfare was, and those who “know” in the strictest sense are long gone.

Part of knowing how to write is taking the training wheels off and researching what cannot be known by experience.So, the next step, after what I know, is what I don’t know. Still, Pirates are cool. Arrr...

But there’s another. Exploring deep, exciting topics is understandable, and a writer will naturally gravitate towards the kind of stories they enjoy reading, but still, how many times has a favourite genre disappointed?

Moreover, the biggest step I took as a writer was moving outside my comfort zone.

So, the next next step involves more research, but it’s into areas that don’t really interest me, things that are not in my soul at all.

Still, if I have learned how to write what I know well, I can apply the same rules to what I don’t know—what is entirely alien to me, measuring the right amount of dry detail, mixed with the right amount of emotion, punctuated with limited exposition, to bridge the showy parts to ensure pace.

Maybe in the broadest sense, “now I know enough to write”.Writing embodies the truism: the more I know, the more I realise I don’t know. I would say that a good writer doesn’t know at all; rather, they just know “we is stupid” and consequently make stuff up to fill in the yawning gaps.

And today, you may call me Jon Snow.

 | Into Darkness

The Spectral Detective Prequel

Into Darkness introduces the Spectral Detective series which stands apart from typical war stories come pulp adventures by integrating authentic history beats, enriched with period details, with elements of biblical mysticism. It offers a noir-influenced exploration of trauma-induced “sight,” resulting in a unique blend of Indiana Jones-style relic hunts, Lovecraftian unease, and hard-boiled detective fiction.

The first instalment, a novella, in the Spectral Detective Series is available to Beta readers. 

Click the link below.

https://storyoriginapp.com/betacopies/a8990b92-6e6c-44c8-af6e-287e2907206f

Check out these books!Click on the links.

| Apocalypse Hero 2: A LitRPG Adventure (The Worthless Player)

One Man, One Bat, One Apocalypse

When the end of the world arrives, people know they can always count on a hero.A John, and there is always a John.

Be it a Sheppard, Sheridan, Lee, Constantine, or Spartan

One True John to save the world, but until they can find him, they'll have to make do with Dan.

As undead pour into the suburbs and more monsters flood the cities, will Dan and the crusaders be able to stem the tide?

The apocalypse continues in “Apocalypse hero 2"

Apocalypse Hero 2 | https://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-Hero-LitRPG-Adventure-Worthless/dp/B0CZ77XDMV/

| Shadow of the Arisen

by Paul Yoder

Shadow of the Arisen, the opening chapter of Paul Yoder’s Lords of the Deep Hells trilogy, is a gripping dark fantasy brimming with danger and intrigue. Set in the sun-scorched Tarigannie desert, this tale weaves together intense swordplay, eerie necromantic threats, and well-formed characters.

The story follows a wanderer, a holy knight, and an eccentric alchemist as they navigate a land plagued by rising undead horrors, delivering a blend of gritty action and subtle moral questions.

Yoder’s prose shines in vivid combat scenes and atmospheric world-building, crafting a setting that feels alive with cultural depth and creeping dread. The pacing keeps you hooked, balancing character moments with climactic battles. If you are looking at dark fantasy with a touch of horror, like Joe Abercrombie or R.A. Salvatore’s grittier works, this is worth checking out, and why not for the pricey sum of free?

Shadow of the Arisen | https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/26927a0e-94ec-11f0-a4ed-9731e52e8505

| Paladin and Necromancer

by Adrienne Miller

In a world scarred by apocalyptic war and stitched together by fragile divine pacts, a paladin and a necromancer—bound by a strained marriage—face a new threat. 

When a noble house falls to a gruesome ritual, Kassander and Silver unravel a conspiracy that could shatter the multiverse and their tenuous bond. Adrienne Miller’s Paladin and Necromancer is a dark fantasy triumph, blending DnD-inspired adventure, adult romantic themes and mystery. 

With flawed, diverse heroes and a tragic-comic heart, this tale examines faith, trauma, and relationships.

Paladin and Necromancer - https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/5f6668a4-93de-11f0-9a87-ff573231c3aa