I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but your story is not one of a kind. Every story has already been told. It’s not enough to write what you know. Even Albert Einstein knew to think outside the box.

Every Story Has Been Written

It’s true. Your story is not unique. It will always be (wo)man vs.

• Fate
• Man
• Nature
• Self
• Society
• Supernatural
• Technology

While you could be discouraged that nothing you write will be 100% original, I think it’s awesome. If everything has already been done, then everything is fair game. That means you can write about whatever you want! All you need to do is add your own spin. Color your story with your own voice.

But where do you start? People often say “write what you know”. That’s both good and bad advice at the same time.

Write What You Know: The Pros

Let’s talk about the good. Writing about what you know makes you comfortable. It makes you the de facto expert in what you are writing. Establish your platform. It helps you to build confidence and could even prevent the dreaded writer’s block.

For those of you who don’t know, I have written two books. The first is a self-published book Medicare Essentials: A Physician Insider Explains the Fine Print. The success of that book led to my being approached by a publisher to write Idiot’s Guides: Medicare.

I was able to write about Medicare because I knew something about the subject. As a doctor, someone who takes care of people on Medicare and someone who got paid by Medicare for the services I provided, I was the right person for the job. Not only that, I had experience consulting with hospitals about what Medicare will and will not cover. I knew Medicare from the clinical and from the business side.

So, I wrote what I knew. I got a traditional publishing deal. Sweet!

Write What You Know: The Cons

Writing about what you know can get, well, boring. A long line of straight facts can do little to inspire your reader. There will also come a time when you exhaust your material too. Because let’s face it, you may know a lot but you don’t know everything.

If I only wrote about what I knew about Medicare, I would not have sold many books. I found my niche by appealing to people with what frustrates me about Medicare and pointing out the costly mistakes I saw people making every day. I stood out from the crowd, but I could only do that by finding out what my audience wanted and needed.

It is not enough to relay the facts. Infuse some of yourself into what you write to build an audience, whether it’s non-fiction or fiction. Then go out and learn more. There’s always more.

Write More Than You Know

I learned so much about Medicare during my research that Verywell.com approached me to be their Medicare expert. MedicareResources.org followed. Now I get paid to write articles and that allows me to stay on top of my Medicare knowledge. Add to that my book royalties, and I have a bonafide writing career. My success story can be yours too.

What am I trying to say?

While “write what you know” can be a good way to get your feet wet, what you know NOW will never be enough. How would Einstein have discovered the theory of relativity if he didn’t stay curious and work past what he already knew? Plus, I’d hate to think that anyone who writes serial killer novels has any real-life experience on the matter!

What you know is limited and you have to be brave enough to keep on learning and growing. Push past those boundaries. Draw on your life experience to build new worlds and, better yet, use your imagination. Writing what you know may jumpstart your writing, but it’s only the beginning.