🥑 you know what?

This week, we’re tackling bad writing advice.

Instead of write what you know, I have not one, but TWO propositions!

1. Know what you write.

I don’t have to live in a fantasy world to write about one, but I do have to know what fantasy readers expect.

Genre conventions—e.g., what the reader expects to encounter in this type of story—help the reader acclimate to the world you’re crafting. They’re a tool to build trust.

If you’re writing about a medieval fantasy world, you need to use prose, dialogue, and description that connects readers to what they’re expecting to find in that world.

“But I want to subvert expectations!” Good—every writer should want that to some extent. Earn the reader’s trust FIRST. Show them you understand your chosen genre. Then you can blow their minds with subversion, twists, and genre-melding goodness.

In the same vein is the illusion of expertise. If you’re writing a scene about forging a sword, for example, you should know enough about the process to make us believe it’s happening on the page. You don’t have to be an expert, but you need to give us enough detail to trick our brains into visualizing what’s happening.

2. Write how you know.

If I’m writing about space travel, I need to avoid any obvious space travel errors—e.g., normal humans would suffocate and/or freeze to death when exposed to the vacuum.

But the feeling is more important than the logistics.

Make your audience feel like the events on the page are really happening. To do that, lean into your strengths, be they physical description, emotion, scientific jargon, action, introspection, or whatever else.

For example, Andy Weir, author of The Martian and other scientific-exploration stories, combines technical knowledge with sharp sarcasm and wit to create wild yet believable characters and scenarios.

If those aren’t your strengths, don’t pretend they are. Find yours.

What strengths do you bring to the writing desk? Combine those strengths with pointed research to craft evocative scenes that draw us in—not because they’re like someone else, but because they’re 100% YOU.

Wondering where to start? Request a free sample edit!

What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever received? Reply to this email and I may use it in a future Bite.

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^{Avocado Bites is a publication of Avocado Tree Press, LLC, that helps you revise your stories one bite at a time. We love working with indie and traditionally published authors on fiction manuscripts—and if that’s you, welcome to our target audience.}

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^{Addison Horner is the chief editor of Avocado Tree Press. Here’s his newsletter. It’s different but still pretty good.}