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Why I think “Write Only What You Know About” Is Abysmally Bad Advice
In a limitless world, with a plethora of possibilities,putting oneself in a box or sticking to what one knows is a complete nonsense.
For readers and writers alike, over the course of perusing articles on this space or elsewhere, they will have come across the piece of advice stating: write only what you know about. If I had a pound for every time I have seen those words splashed across a plethora of write ups by various writers, I would be nearly as wealthy as Jeff Bezos.
But hang on a minute.
Why are people projecting their own prejudices and parochialism onto other people? why should we confine ourselves to what we supposedly know? and why on earth do we still think that giving such advice is worthwhile, in this day and age?
I will use two individuals in the points below to argue that “writing only what you know about” is a highly conservative perspective and completely out of step with the confusing and complex world in which we live today and the sooner we move away from such mindset, the better.
Autodidacticism
According to Wikipedia, autodidacticism is defined as:
education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such…