Today on the blog we welcome author Malia Zaidi, with her guest post, ‘Is It Important to Write What You Know?’, as part of the blog tour for her latest book, ‘The Study of Silence’. Post contains affiliate links.

Malia Zaidi is a writer and painter, who grew up in Germany and lives in the US. An avid reader and traveler, she decided to combine these passions, and turn her long-time ambition of writing into a reality. The Study of Silence is the third book in The Lady Evelyn Mysteries.

Is It Important to Write What You Know?

I have heard the advice “Write what you know” from many well-known authors, and I am sure, if you are interested in writing yourself, you have, too. Though to an extent, I agree, it does help to write about a subject or a setting familiar to you, so much of the writing process takes you almost unconsciously into realms of the unknown. That is sometimes what makes escaping into writing such a great pleasure. You can lose yourself in a world and character’s minds of your own making. When working on a story or a book, or any work of fiction, your imagination should stretch to places you have never been and faces you will never meet.

That being said, I think it also depends on the genre in which you write. In terms of fantasy or science fiction, you are likely creating a whole new world with your imagination, while historical or literary fiction do tend to require adherence to a recognizable reality. For my own books, I have tried to find a sort of middle ground between writing what I know and allowing my creative energies some free reign. I write historical mysteries and thus a considerable amount of research and a grounding in fact is necessary. At the same time, the characters are entirely of my own making and the setting – though I have been there before – is essentially unknown to me the way it was in the period my novels are set in, the 1920s.

I had studied this time before, but not in great detail, so I was and probably still am, no expert on the subject. However, it gave me a grounding into which to place my story, a story that was still unfolding in my mind as I wrote it. Striking a balance between the known and the exciting black hole of mystery involved in the writing process is what makes it so enjoyable to me.

In the end of the day, the important thing is simply to sit down and write and be consistent. If writing what you know helps you to get a story down on paper (or rather Word Doc), do it. If you need the unknown to spur your imagination to mysterious places, ignore any rules and just go for it. That’s the beauty of writing and of storytelling, there are no limits.

Lady Evelyn Carlisle has returned home to England, where she is completing her degree at St. Hugh’s, a women’s college in Oxford. Her days are spent poring over ancient texts and rushing to tutorials. All is well until a fateful morning, when her peaceful student life is turned on its head.

Stumbling upon the gruesome killing of someone she thought she knew, Evelyn is plunged into a murder investigation once more, much to the chagrin of her friends and family, as well as the intriguing Detective Lucas Stanton.

The dreaming spires of Oxford begin to appear decidedly less romantic as she gathers clues, and learns far more than she ever wished to know about the darkness lurking beyond the polished veneer. Can she solve the crime before the killer strikes once more, this time to Evelyn’s own detriment?

@MaliaZaidi
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