One of the rules of fiction writing that I’ve heard over and over is to write what you know. This is good advice, but is often taken wrong. If we all literally wrote only what we know from our own experience, what would be the state of science fiction and fantasy? Supernatural thrillers? Horror?

Clearly, we shouldn’t take this admonition literally. One thing we do all know is how to be human. Most of us have been human beings since birth and maybe before. We all have that experience then, of the emotions, the sensations, the ups and downs, the physical limitations, etc, of being human. This forms the basis when we’re writing about what we know.

Stephen King has no idea what it’s like to be a persecuted high school age girl with super mental powers, right? However, he does know very well what it’s like to be a teenager and to be ridiculed. He took that experience of his own and was able to use it as a starting point for imagining what it would be like to be Carrie. The result of of this experiment made him one of the most successful writers of our time.

So, what does this mean for you and your blogging? It means that you should be open to taking things from your personal experience and using them as starting points for writing a blog post. There are many things that happen to each of us every day that can teach us something.

A good example of this is when I posted to say If It’s Not Hard, You’re Not Making Progress. I had noticed that I wasn’t making progress in a couple of areas in my life and wondered why. When I examined what was going on, it became clear to me that I had plateaued in these areas because I wasn’t pushing myself to get past that point. Once I discovered this, it was much more apparent where I needed to focus my efforts in order to make progress and be more successful.

If you are open to this concept, it’s easy to find ideas that translate over well to other parts of life, including blogging. Keep your eyes and ears open to the lessons that life is teaching you, and you’ll always be able to find something to post about.

Note: This post has been including in the Carnival of Struggling, Bumbling Newbies. Go check it out!