One of my favorite genres is near-future science fiction—in particular when writers nail the science behind it.

Let’s be honest here, I know very little about science, so knowing whether if some world ending phenomena is scientific accurate in the story I’m reading is a bit challenging. Most of the time, I have to trust the writers have done their due diligence.

Currently, I am making my way through Andy Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary. You may also know him for writing The Martian. While his works may be to a degree scientifically accurate, Andy Weir is not a physicist, a botanist, or scientist. He is simply a space dork with access to Google. Still he maneuvers around the lingo like a pro (at least to me). This got me thinking about a common piece of advice writers get: Write what you know.

Write What You Know? I Don’t Think So!

If I were to take this advice to heart, what would I write about? Growing up as a queer, Mexican American kid in the middle of nowhere? Coming out as gay in a rural high school with a graduating class of 35? How to make terrible bows out of PVC pipes?

Perhaps, I’m taking this advice a little too seriously. Stories that are inspired and driven by personal life experiences can connect profoundly with readers. However, I also think it’s important to use writing as a tool to explore the unknown. How?

Using Writing to Explore the Unknown

Right now, I am editing a scene in a story where my main character wakes up in a morgue. I have no idea what a morgue looks like, nor do I know what procedures the mortician would have in place if someone were to wake up from being dead. But just because I’m not a mortician doesn’t mean I’m not going to write this story. Instead, I thought I would enlist the help of an expert.

A huge part of writing is the exploration of human experience—at times outside of your own. Which means your writing may involve doing a little research. I’ve decided to reach out to a local mortician to see if I can get the inside scoop of how they deal with the dead. I will admit, the whole idea sounds weird (even to me), but I feel it’s an important step toward creating a story that feels complete. I can only imagine Weir did the same thing with his novels.

Wish me luck, and I’ll see you next week.