The above sentence to a lot of people may issue a groan, perhaps a memory of elementary writing classes where you weren't allowed to write fiction. But I don't mean you have to only write memoirs or things you've actually experienced. I haven't experienced being swallowed by a dark spell that physically scars its victims (thank God), but Alura exists. And if you're writing fantasy or science fiction especially, chances are you haven't experienced much of what you're writing about firsthand.

When I say "write what you know", I mean you have to know what you're writing about. If you're writing a story about abuse, you have to understand the complexities and characteristics of abusive relationships. If you're writing about war as a major conflict, you should have a basic idea of how war works. If you're writing a story about the FBI, investigating into how the FBI works is crucial.

If you don't know what you're talking about, your readers will often know and go "Wait, what?" Worse, if you dive into a sensitive topic and portray it the wrong way, people may get offended or mentally triggered. That's why it's important to either have the experience to write about your topic well, or do your research so you can cover the topic well. 

You should always research if you are writing something you don't have experience in, but even if you do, getting more information is helpful. For example, my character Carmen in Starwalker was raped two years before the start of the book, and this affects her character in serious ways. Though I have experience with sexual harassment, I don't have experience having been raped. Going to a medical site that explains all the complications that rape can produce is incredibly important to ensure accuracy and respect for the sensitivities of this issue.

If you don't know where to start, research is actually pretty simple and fun. You can use videos, articles, magazines, medical journals, books, and even people's firsthand accounts. Here are some of my personal favorite places to go.

1. The Internet. You can do most of your research from the comfort of your own home. If you need to know whether people can walk on hairline fractures, type it into Google and choose several respected websites (preferably medical websites).

2. Firsthand accounts. This is probably the most useful of all of them if you're writing about a sensitive or triggering topic. Many people who are writing about suicide or abuse refer to firsthand accounts. This is just as important as objective information about a topic if you want to really explore how a character thinks and feels in a given situation. Reddit is my favorite resource because you can talk to whole communities of people from these demographics (though there are unfortunately a lot of rude people there as well, so be prepared). If you have friends who have walked the paths of your characters, talk to them about it, provided it's not triggering to them.

3. Documentaries. These are especially useful if you're writing about a historical event, the government, or a war. They'll detail all sorts of useful terms to you about these topics. And they're a wealth of general information that could become your next spark for a project! Listening to podcasts can accomplish the same purpose.

Save all interviews you have with people and all links you refer to. Organize them by topic and refer to them when you're writing your novel. Oftentimes you may have to return to them midway through the work. And if you do have experience in an area, use it! There's nothing wrong with drawing from your own perceptions of the world around you when you write.

In the next chapter, I'm going to discuss the last tool as it relates to ideas: the writer's instinct. This is the mirror opposite of research, but it's very important to writing with oiled mental gears.