Writing can sound very easy on the surface. Fiction or non fiction, there are countless subjects in the world that everyone can give their two cents on. Once you sit down and start pounding away at those keys though, you will start to realize the words don't always cascade across the screen at an amazing speed.
Luckily, this can be rectified by writing about things you are familiar with. If you're experienced at building things for example, you will probably find it easier to write about building a project, and the tools involved, than building an entire book about the history of the paper industry. Not that you couldn't write about that if you wanted to. With enough research, you could certainly produce such a book with almost no prior knowledge.
Writing outside what you know can be very difficult though. As most people who have written a book can attest to, even completing writing about things you know can be arduous at times. If you're barely sticking your head into the world of writing, you are in for a wild ride. It's amazing how difficult writing a bunch of words about something can be. As the page count grows, the job itself becomes heavier. Sometimes you run out of steam, and don't know where else to go with it. Or you could meet up with the notorious writer's block. There are many road blocks that could show up between typing that first word, and the long trip to reach the ending phrase.
I've always loved fantasy books, and so I chose to write them too. I had boundless ideas as I started writing, but some days it was hard to even type out a single sentence. When I think of choosing to write something I wasn't familiar with instead, I shiver at how hard it would have been.
If you want to write about something you aren't very familiar with, the best piece of advice I could give you is to get familiar with it. Even if it delays you beginning, take some time and learn about it. See what other people who write about it have to say. Trying to write about something you know little about, and just learning as you go along, can have damaging effects on your writing. It can become fragmented, and the cohesiveness of the writing as a whole can suffer.
Writing is a great tool that allows us to share thoughts and ideas with the world. However, if you believe it to be an easy thing to do, you've got another thing coming. Just like many people drop out of college before completing their degrees, many people drop out of writing before reaching the end. Lessen the chances of that by starting with what you know. It will make this difficult task a little easier to manage, and build your confidence until you can write with the best of them.
I'm Benjamin C. Andrews, an author sharing my writing knowledge with others. Visit http://magicjarpublishing.blogspot.com/ for more writing tips and tricks, and other quality information.
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