Go ahead. I give you permission, if that's what you need. Write whatever you wish, even if you don't know a thing about it. Find out. Learn it. Study it. Do the necessary research. You'll only benefit from this process. Don't ever let anyone tell you, "You can't write about that if you don't know anything about it. If you've never been to a certain place, never visited or seen it how can write about it?"
It's called research, and there is a wonderful thing called the Internet which cuts down the time intensity by hours, if not days, not to mention the enormous expense saved on traveling and accommodations. However, you must be sure to check all your sources. As a staff writer who contributes interviews and articles for an internationally distributed magazine, I must always confirm my sources. It helps to avoid any embarrassment later on to myself and the magazine. I also check other sources besides the Internet. Libraries offer online databases, but it doesn't hurt to take a trip to the building and check the shelves every now and then. Also, speaking to people regarding your subject matter is equally important. Interview people who have actually been there, done that. You will get a sense of the culture and the colloquialisms. Immerse yourself into this project. You might find it to be fun and enthusiastically recharge your own writing prose.
When I begin a new writing project, I make a list of persons, places, things, I can research, get in contact with, or go visit. When I wrote "Rescue in the African Congo," still unpublished, I interviewed people who had gone on several mission trips to the area. I had a Scottish captain who played the bagpipes as one of the main characters, so I researched bagpipes and found out a lot of interesting things I didn't know. I found a local bagpipe society in my area and went to interview them, listened to them play, studied the different parts of the pipes and how they are played. I researched about the breed of dog I chose to include as a companion for the captain and interviewed a breeder to find out about the temperament and habits. I researched about traveling in the Congo. How to get there. Where to go. What is the terrain and weather like at different times of the year. I researched about gorillas (apes) and learned about child armies. This opened my eyes to a whole new world I wasn't aware of at all. I've never been to Africa and quite possibly never will go, but I think I know enough about it to write a pretty compelling novel.
Someone else who has written an entire series of novels, which has since become one of NY Times bestseller's of all time, is Diana Gabaldon, author of "Outlander." She never set foot on Scottish soil before writing a word of that novel. ('nough said.)
It's called research, and there is a wonderful thing called the Internet which cuts down the time intensity by hours, if not days, not to mention the enormous expense saved on traveling and accommodations. However, you must be sure to check all your sources. As a staff writer who contributes interviews and articles for an internationally distributed magazine, I must always confirm my sources. It helps to avoid any embarrassment later on to myself and the magazine. I also check other sources besides the Internet. Libraries offer online databases, but it doesn't hurt to take a trip to the building and check the shelves every now and then. Also, speaking to people regarding your subject matter is equally important. Interview people who have actually been there, done that. You will get a sense of the culture and the colloquialisms. Immerse yourself into this project. You might find it to be fun and enthusiastically recharge your own writing prose.
When I begin a new writing project, I make a list of persons, places, things, I can research, get in contact with, or go visit. When I wrote "Rescue in the African Congo," still unpublished, I interviewed people who had gone on several mission trips to the area. I had a Scottish captain who played the bagpipes as one of the main characters, so I researched bagpipes and found out a lot of interesting things I didn't know. I found a local bagpipe society in my area and went to interview them, listened to them play, studied the different parts of the pipes and how they are played. I researched about the breed of dog I chose to include as a companion for the captain and interviewed a breeder to find out about the temperament and habits. I researched about traveling in the Congo. How to get there. Where to go. What is the terrain and weather like at different times of the year. I researched about gorillas (apes) and learned about child armies. This opened my eyes to a whole new world I wasn't aware of at all. I've never been to Africa and quite possibly never will go, but I think I know enough about it to write a pretty compelling novel.
Someone else who has written an entire series of novels, which has since become one of NY Times bestseller's of all time, is Diana Gabaldon, author of "Outlander." She never set foot on Scottish soil before writing a word of that novel. ('nough said.)
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