Write What You Know

People, people! There is one common theme in so many authors’ works that I simply can’t abide! And that is the fact that they have no conception of what they are really writing about!

The bridge between mediocrity and near-perfection lies in truth. Say, for example, an author decides to write a story taking place in France. Trouble is, he’s never been there and doesn’t know anyone who has lived or visited the country for a long enough time to have really absorbed the culture. Think about this: how can he write a story that takes place somewhere he knows nothing about? I’ve read stories that take place in countries that are obviously unlike the United States, and yet the author has imparted such a sense of what I will call Americanism in their piece, I feel more like I’m at the store down the street rather than in a Taiwanese market. It’s the knowledge that Taiwan, or France, or anywhere else HAS to have major cultural differences that turns me off when reading.

Time period is another key issue. To most, I suppose, historical accuracy is not terribly important. But it is aggravating that people feed lies about time periods simply because they ASSUME. And that breeds ignorance. It is simply amazing to find that people think the European Middle Ages extended from 600 CE (common era, equivalent to Anno Domini, AD) to 1900 CE (which is true if one speaks of Russia/Eastern Europe, but that’s IT!). To borrow from art and music history, there are several different time periods, each cultivating a new sense of style, manners, thinking, art, and music. (For reference’s sake, see my classifications of time periods at the bottom of the page.) Only during transitional periods is there any real mixing of culture as it relates to time. During solemn occasions or events of great importance, the tendency is to revert to the way things used to be.

For example, I just finished reading this really great story. Except the author was under several delusions: first (and to a musician/historian, this is really funny) she seemed inclined to think that Johann Sebastian Bach was important while he was alive. This isn’t to say he was unimportant, he was simply considered a second-rate composer compared to those of his day, and forgotten about from about the ten years preceding his death to the eighty after it.

She also saw it fit that doctors inspected women and aided in the birthing process (meanwhile, we are given the impression that the date is pre-American Revolution). If a woman broke a bone or there was a serious problem, I suppose a doctor would be allowed to touch her. But a physician rarely, if ever made full physical inspections of women until the Victorian era ended with World War I. Until about the same time, it was unethical to cut open a body to see how and why it died; if someone were truly curious, they dug up fresh graves and performed illegal autopsies or hoped that cause of death was obvious from the exterior.

OK, enough examples. What I am trying to get across is that culture is not the same through and through. Even in different regions of the same country vary in culture. One must also consider transitional periods in history.


So before you write, ask yourself this: where and when?

And if it isn’t where YOU are NOW, then do yourself a favor and research it. If you don’t have time to research it, then find a different setting for the story, like next door. When you have a thorough understanding of a topic, it only enhances one’s writing ability by cutting out contradictions and uncertainties that cross everyone’s mind.

We live in the age of knowledge. While not all the content online is trustworthy, there are a lot of good websites out there willing to give you information to make your story a great one. Since everyone viewing this must have access to the Internet in some way, shape, or form, use it to its full potential! And don’t forget about libraries and people who have experienced what you want to write about. If you don’t know it, don’t write anyway; FIND OUT!


Time Periods in European History, following the fall of Rome
(Please note all dates are based off of general music categories.)

500-1000 CE = Early Middle Ages
1000-1200 CE = High Middle Ages
1200-1400 CE (1375 in Italy) = Late Middle Ages
1400-1600 CE = Renaissance
1600-1750 CE = Baroque
1750-1820 = Classical
1820-1920 CE = Romantic
1900 [yes, I know I’m backtracking] – now = 20th Century/Contemporary.

*These are all very good names to use when using a search engine, though the use of the word ‘era’ after each is very helpful. (Another example: instead of saying so-and-so waltzed together, type in ‘Baroque dances’ or ‘Baroque era dances.’ You won’t find any waltzes there, because the waltz wasn’t invented until the Romantic era!)

If anyone else would like to add time periods from any other culture or time, just send ‘em to me, and I’ll post it here.