# Being a woman and writing dark fiction--it's complicated



## Twook00 (Feb 7, 2014)

There's an interesting discussion happening today regarding women authors being less visible in the fantasy community than men (especially when writing darker fiction).

The discussion was kicked off by author Teresa Frohock who advised that most women might have more success publishing under a gender neutral identity.

In response, Mark Lawrence (Broken Empire trilogy) created a poll asking the following question:  If the cover of Prince of Thorns had the author as Mary Lawrence would it have changed your decision to buy the book?

Thought you folks might have some insight.

Edit:  Mark has posted some results on his blog.


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## BWFoster78 (Feb 7, 2014)

Whether a book is written by a man or a woman plays absolutely no role in my decision making process.  If the book sounds interesting to me and the reviews indicate that I may enjoy it and the sample engages me, I buy it.  Truthfully, I don't even look at the author's name for a book that I just happened across.


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## Twook00 (Feb 7, 2014)

The results of Mark's poll indicate that 20% of those who voted would have been less likely to have bought the book.  Considering how hard it is for a book to get off the ground, this is disappointing.


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## Devor (Feb 7, 2014)

Twook00 said:


> The results of Mark's poll indicate that 20% of those who voted would have been less likely to have bought the book.  Considering how hard it is for a book to get off the ground, this is disappointing.



The problem with these surveys is that they make a big deal about what they're testing so you don't get a real response.  It can be misleading.  People lie to feel better, or exaggerate qualities they normally don't even think about, or answer the survey in disproportionate numbers.  People check a box to send a message.  A scientific surveyor would stand in a mall and give people book blurbs under one name or the other, and see which people respond more favorably to when they have no idea that you're testing the author's gender.  Chances are the outcome would be different - you would think worse, but really it could go either way.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Feb 7, 2014)

Devor said:


> The problem with these surveys is that they make a big deal about what they're testing so you don't get a real response.  It can be misleading.  People lie to feel better, or exaggerate qualities they normally don't even think about, or answer the survey in disproportionate numbers.  People check a box to send a message.  A scientific surveyor would stand in a mall and give people book blurbs under one name or the other, and see which people respond more favorably to when they have no idea that you're testing the author's gender.  Chances are the outcome would be different - you would think worse, but really it could go either way.



Exactly. This poll is unscientific and its results should be ignored. The question itself is valid ("Does the author's purported gender affect potential reader interest?") and it'd be interesting to see it studied.

Everyone likes to think they're gender-blind, but I would not be remotely surprised if many or even most people have unconscious biases about author gender. I like to think I don't, but it hasn't been put to the test.


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## BWFoster78 (Feb 7, 2014)

> Exactly. This poll is unscientific and its results should be ignored. The question itself is valid ("Does the author's purported gender affect potential reader interest?") and it'd be interesting to see it studied.



I went back and read the blog post referenced by the OP.  Speaking of unscientific...

The author starts out with a halfway decent methodology of trying that establishes some degree of correlation between a woman being the author of the work and the use of descriptions that imply romance/feelings/relationships are involved in the book.  Then, the author goes off the rails.  The article continues basically from there with no reasoning given to conclude that publishers only look at women for works that involve relationships.

First, even if you prove correlation, there's a long way to go to prove causation.
Second, I'm not sure the methodology was rigorous enough to prove the thesis.
Third, I don't exactly hold blog posts to rigorous scientific standards, but a little clue as to how you get from the correlation to the conclusion would be beneficial.



> Everyone likes to think they're gender-blind, but I would not be remotely surprised if many or even most people have unconscious biases about author gender.



If the author's thesis is correct and female authors are more likely to have character relationships drive portions of the plot, then, since I prefer such stories, I should be seeking out female authors.  Truthfully, though, unless I'm searching for a known author, the identity of the author is completely irrelevant. 

 Not the least of the reasons is that is pretty durn easy to use any pseudonym you want.  Is my name really Brian Foster?  Am I really a guy?

I am.  But how do you know?


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## Caged Maiden (Feb 7, 2014)

You know... I'm tempted to print four book covers, in sets, one like Princess of Thorns, written by a man and another by a female, then another book cover looking like Prince of Thorns and written by a male and a female and actually do a real test.  thanks for this interesting post.  

I feel weird saying it, but I'd probably lean towards a male author if I really wanted a dark fantasy and assume the female version would be "lighter".  It feels weird to say that, because I write some pretty dark things when I'm in the mood, but I think I've bought into the cycle of which Mark Lawrence speaks.  

I've considered the gender bias a lot and even write articles for MS under A. Howitt.  Is it wrong? I'm proud of writing things that make some people cringe, but I'd rather use just a surname to avoid any gender bias initially and let people know once they already like what they're reading, it was written by a female.  But then, in my life, I've always been involved in interests that draw mostly men.  I wrestled on the boy's team in high school, I was an avid gamer (D&D, Vampire the Masquerade LARP and Werewolf, and let's not forget Magic and other stuff like that).  Most of my friends were boys.  I studied Auto Body in college and even as an adult, am an archer and swordfighter.  While my interests are one thing, and yes, most of my companions in them are male, I also tend to think differently than most women I know.  In romantic relationships, inner thoughts, emotions... I've kinda always related better with males.


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## A. E. Lowan (Feb 7, 2014)

hmm... This is very interesting.  I agree with Brian, the original blog posts are not very scientific, but they do raise some interesting questions.  We are both women, and we do write character and relationship-driven stories, but our stories are also very dark (though not "grimdark," I don't really know what that is, but we can get pretty funny at times).  I honestly don't understand how it's possible to go truly dark without digging deep into the hearts of our characters.  And "relationships" aren't limited to romantic relationships - they encompass relationships between parents and children, between friends, and between enemies, and we love to explore the potentials they hold.  I'm honestly not sure how much our gender effects how we write, or how we appreciate stories (because we do write what we want to read), but I will admit that men and women really are wired differently, even as I admit that neither my partner nor I tend to think or react along the same lines as "traditional" women - but does anyone, I wonder?

As for names, as everyone can see we choose to write under a gender neutral pen name.  Part of the reason is because we want to avoid being pegged as light or fluffy or "paranormal romance" writers at a glance, just because we're women writing urban fantasy.  But part of it is also because there are two of us, and one of our names is ultra-common, and the other name is ultra-rare, and we would just as soon have one, fairly unique but still easy to remember and spell name on the cover.  "A. E. Lowan" fits that need.  So, it's all about marketing.


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## Devor (Feb 7, 2014)

I think men and women tend to be wired a little differently on average . . . but if you're looking at a female author who wants to write grimdark, you're not looking at the "average" woman, so I don't see any reason to make presumptions based on those averages.  And as A. E. Lowan sort of mentioned, if you dissect all the differences between the genders, real or imagined, there are some that might even be useful writing grimdark.  I also don't see a point in being too aware of those differences on a regular basis - they're really only useful for socio-psychological purposes, which might include marketing or character development, but not taking book reviews.


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## Chessie (Feb 7, 2014)

Gender bias isn't something I think about. I select the stories I read based on story, flow, writing style, etc. Men and women are wired differently but I think all of us as individuals are. I'll be publishing under my real name which is rare yet feminine. I hope to dazzle readers with my stories. I don't worry about being labeled as a softie or whatever. I've always kept in mind that, someday when I have published, I'll do my best to show my readers who I am. I don't expect to be judged on account of my sex, only in the work I'm providing.

Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I'll write romance or fluffy things. I love writing creepy stories and I think that being female does give me an advantage in writing about motherhood or having female leads. Stereotype doesn't bother me and I'm not afraid of it.


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 8, 2014)

Might as well post here in this thread as well.
I think there's definitely a bias, but I think it's largely a subconscious one. If you ask someone the question about whether they'd prefer a certain type of book to be written by a male or female author they would think about it and almost certainly reach the conclusion it doesn't matter. If however, they didn't think about it, they may have reacted differently. This is all theory - I don't have anything to back it up other than my belief that people aren't as open-minded as they like to think.

People, I believe, regardless of gender will have general opinions about members of the opposite sex and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I think that's probably just natural and I think it forms the basis of our biases. Whether we let those biases control our actions or if we make a conscious decision to override them is up to us as individuals though. For some it will be easy and for yet others the thought will never even occur.

A counter example I mentioned in the related thread Phil just posted (here: http://mythicscribes.com/forums/chit-chat/11240-whats-name.html) ismy own WIP. I'm a male writing a light and happy-fluffy novel centered around romance and relationship issues. I'm sure these are themes more closely associated with female writers than male ones (no, I didn't check up on that, it's just based on personal bias) and even if you may not personally agree I'm sure you can imagine how a lot of people would see it that way too (women write romance, men write war).

Would I be reaching higher sales numbers if I used a gender neutral or female pen name? I won't, because I'm happy with my name as it is, but it's interesting to consider in comparison to a female writer changing their name when writing grimdark etc.


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## Devor (Feb 8, 2014)

Svrtnsse said:


> I think there's definitely a bias, but I think it's largely a subconscious one. If you ask someone the question about whether they'd prefer a certain type of book to be written by a male or female author they would think about it and almost certainly reach the conclusion it doesn't matter. If however, they didn't think about it, they may have reacted differently. This is all theory - I don't have anything to back it up other than my belief that people aren't as open-minded as they like to think.



It might be true, but you really cannot assume anything about the poll results based on that notion.  Once you've called attention to the author's gender, you've introduced biases that are far greater than the one you're trying to measure.


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 8, 2014)

Devor said:


> Once you've called attention to the author's gender, you've introduced biases that are far greater than the one you're trying to measure.



Yep, that's part of what I was getting at. By raising the question you're ruining the opportunity to get an unbiased answer.

Maybe one way of doing it would be to present a list of potential titles couple with author names and then ask what titles someone would be most likely to buy. Then you could do a second poll where all the names had been gender swapped and see if there was a measurable difference. I guess it's all academical though.


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## A. E. Lowan (Feb 8, 2014)

I've been going through and re-reading the blog posts today, both the OP here and the one down in Chit Chat, and realized I never read the comments.  Some of those are making my hair stand on end!  according to one of the commenting authors in the Teresa Frohock post, 



> I think the toughest incident I've had (beyond endless people asking, "How on earth did you write a male protagonist?" -- as if gender was more trouble than a change in species) was when I was at NYCC and there was a fantastic book signing set up where Myke Cole, Benedict Jacka, and I sat in a row and signed 100 free copies of the first books in our series for anyone who got in line. It was very cool, but I'll say this -- it was really hard to see male readers who were happy to have their books personalized by Myke and Benedict, but the moment (the *moment*) they laid eyes on me, they said, "Oh, why don't you address it to my mother/sister/aunt". Because my gender was enough to convince them that they wouldn't enjoy it, even though I was writing in the exact same genre and with most of the themes as the man beside me.



Yikes!  I just don't know how to react to that.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Feb 8, 2014)

I don't understand that kind of thinking. Further, I can't put any credibility in the idea that a writer may be better suited to write about a particular aspect of humanity due to their gender. The idea that women can write better about relationships or motherhood, or than men can write a better fight scene is absolute hogwash.  

A gifted writer should be indistinguishable from another gifted writer, at least concerning their ability to get into characters. If I can't get into the head of a female character I'm not a very good observer of life, and I'm not a very good artist in general. Artists should be capable of understanding their characters, how they'd react to any situation. My body will never experience childbirth, but it's never had a piece cut away by a broadsword either. Still, I could write about either.  

I'd say if your writing is able to be easily identified as coming from a male or female, you've got a lot of growth needed as an artist. As a reader, you'd be blinding yourself by assuming that artists can be defined by gender. It's ludicrous.


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## buyjupiter (Feb 8, 2014)

Svrtnsse said:


> A counter example I mentioned in the related thread Phil just posted (here: http://mythicscribes.com/forums/chit-chat/11240-whats-name.html) ismy own WIP. I'm a male writing a light and happy-fluffy novel centered around romance and relationship issues. I'm sure these are themes more closely associated with female writers than male ones (no, I didn't check up on that, it's just based on personal bias) and even if you may not personally agree I'm sure you can imagine how a lot of people would see it that way too (women write romance, men write war).
> 
> Would I be reaching higher sales numbers if I used a gender neutral or female pen name? I won't, because I'm happy with my name as it is, but it's interesting to consider in comparison to a female writer changing their name when writing grimdark etc.



If I read your work under a gender neutral name, I would automatically assume you were a woman. Not because of the subject matter (i.e. light fluffy stories dealing with relationships), but because you've managed to write from a woman's perspective so well that it's hard to remember that it's just great writing skills, not intimate first-hand knowledge of women's perspectives. Once you've read enough badly done portrayals of inner-monologue for women characters...you start assuming that anyone who gets it right must be a woman. (Joe Abercrombie surprised the pants off me when I read _Best Served Cold_. His portrayal of Monza is just so right.)


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 8, 2014)

This is the nicest thing I've read all year. Thanks. <3


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## Chessie (Feb 8, 2014)

I LOVED Abercrombie's portrayal of Monza! That was the first novel of his I read and he hooked me through great characterization. And he's a perfect example of what T.Allen is talking about. I hope my post didn't come off as hey, I can write about motherhood better than a man because I've experienced it. I meant it as just a life experience I understand but there are many, many others that I don't and my gender has no relevance to those.

I'm somewhat oblivious to gender bias in my daily life. Therefore, its not something I think about when I'm reading stories or writing them. I'll be happy getting a following of readers regardless of whether they are male/female or care if I'm a woman. That doesn't matter to me and I agree with Svrtnsse in that these sorts of questions shouldn't even be brought up. I bet most people don't think of that when they browse through books at the bookstore/reading device.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Feb 8, 2014)

Chesterama said:


> I hope my post didn't come off as hey, I can write about motherhood better than a man because I've experienced it.


I didn't take it that way. I was only using that as an example of an act men can't physically perform, but can still write about.


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## Chessie (Feb 8, 2014)

Ha ha well hey, I've never cast a magical spell either so...yeah. XD


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## Steerpike (Feb 8, 2014)

I don't know some people who don't buy books by female authors. I find it baffling. I keep recommending such books to them, and I know they'd like them if they'd give them a shot.


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## Devor (Feb 9, 2014)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> A gifted writer should be indistinguishable from another gifted writer, at least concerning their ability to get into characters. If I can't get into the head of a female character I'm not a very good observer of life, and I'm not a very good artist in general. Artists should be capable of understanding their characters, how they'd react to any situation. My body will never experience childbirth, but it's never had a piece cut away by a broadsword either. Still, I could write about either.



I was going to let it go, but I'm up late and want to procrastinate for a minute.  It might also be a good discussion.

But I don't agree that everybody needs to be that good.  I think that might be setting the bar unrealistically high in the wrong areas.  As an analogy, there's a lot of great actors who can only play a certain type of character.  99% of Harry Potter narrates the mind of just one character.  You can do a lot of great writing without being a world class empath.  Lots of people with a varied life have plenty of their own emotional experiences to draw from for a few characters, and those few characters might be all you need to develop a great story.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Feb 9, 2014)

Devor said:


> I was going to let it go, but I'm up late and want to procrastinate for a minute.  It might also be a good discussion.
> 
> But I don't agree that everybody needs to be that good.  I think that might be setting the bar unrealistically high in the wrong areas.  As an analogy, there's a lot of great actors who can only play a certain type of character.  99% of Harry Potter narrates the mind of just one character.  You can do a lot of great writing without being a world class empath.  Lots of people with a varied life have plenty of their own emotional experiences to draw from for a few characters, and those few characters might be all you need to develop a great story.



I don't disagree Devor, but I think you misunderstand me. I'm not claiming everyone has to be great or that they require some special empathy skill. Rather, that good writing makes it difficult to determine gender from the work alone. Also, that I find it difficult to swallow that gender grants some predisposition for writing experiences physically or culturally reserved to a particular sex.


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## Devor (Feb 9, 2014)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> I don't disagree Devor, but I think you misunderstand me. I'm not claiming everyone has to be great or that they require some special empathy skill. Rather, that good writing makes it difficult to determine gender from the work alone. Also, that I find it difficult to swallow that gender grants some predisposition for writing experiences physically or culturally reserved to a particular sex.



I thought I've seen you make similar statements about good writing before, so I had thought I'd comment on it.

About gender differences, I actually do find myself disagreeing with this statement, although it might be getting to technicalities.  But don't people always have a predisposition for writing about experiences they know first hand?  If something is physically or culturally reserved to one gender or another - although, that list is smaller than ever right now - wouldn't you expect a predisposition to exist?

And even more so, if someone has gone through child birth, wouldn't you expect that person to have a better grounding for relating that experience?  We write fantasy, so we kind of have to compensate for the lack of experience all the time, but that might lead us to forget how big of a difference experience really makes.


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 9, 2014)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> Also, that I find it difficult to swallow that gender grants some predisposition for writing experiences physically or culturally reserved to a particular sex.



There's something to it though. I'm sure you've all heard the advice "write what you know" and I'm sure you agree that it makes sense in a way, but then you'll start talking about shooting fireballs and chopping peoples' heads off. None of us knows what that's like, but it's something that features in our stories and which we portray without any major issues.

I think it boils down to knowing what you don't know. None of us knows what it's like to shoot fireballs at hordes of orcs, so we spend some time thinking about it in order to try and make it believable. On the other hand, only about half of us knows what it's like to have a conversation with someone who's constantly just starring at our breasts. I can try to imagine what it might be like and then I can probably write it, but before I can do that I have to actually think about it. I need to be aware that it happens.

If I write someone casting a fireball I can describe the surge of energy running down their arm and the heat of the fire on their palms and I can make it seem real. In the same way I can write about a woman on a date with a complete jerk and what it might be like and I can make that seem real too. I just have to try and think about what it's like.

This is where gender is an advantage when writing what a character's experiences. It's not that the actual writing is difficult. It's knowing what to write; about coming up with all the things that need to be included in order to make it seem real.

We've probably all walked into a bar at one time or another. It's a fairly common event and it's not one to really think about that much. Now think about what it'd be like to walk into a bar as a member of the opposite sex. Because you're thinking about it you're coming up with all kinds of little details that might be subtly different - it's not hard. What's difficult is thinking about it in the first place.

To me, this is central to the whole gender equality issue - it's not that men and women are treated differently, it's that a lot of people don't even realize but just take it for granted that that's how it should be (but that's probably too close to real world politics to go into here).

EDIT:
The more I think about it I come to believe that a large part in portraying someone of the opposite sex is in portraying how the rest of the world sees them and treats them. Then again, that's probably applies to people of the same sex as well.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Feb 9, 2014)

Svrtnsse said:


> There's something to it though. I'm sure you've all heard the advice "write what you know" and I'm sure you agree that it makes sense in a way...


I used to be a proponent of this advice, but no longer. There are a multitude of ways you can learn or experience life. We certainly don't need expertise in a field or activity to write about it effectively. Does it lessen the learning curve? Sure, I'll grant that much. The "write what you know" advice assumes that, from experience, you'll make less technical errors and the writing will be more detailed. However, that depends entirely on the writer. Tom Clancy (RIP) never served in the military, or in any governmental service. John LeCarre (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold) was a British intelligence operative, as  was Ian Fleming (James Bond creator). All three of the writers are held in high esteem with regard to their portrayal of espionage and realistic portrayals of government operations (although Fleming's Bond strayed into the fantastical). 

It was rumored that Clancy was investigated as a result of his accuracy. He didn't have firsthand experience. He didn't write what he knew. He learned and wrote.


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 9, 2014)

I used the "write what you know" as a way to link into "know what you don't know". The things you're aware you don't know are things you can research and learn about. Things you don't know you're ignorant about you will keep being ignorant about. Chances are this ignorance will show through when writing about these things.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Feb 9, 2014)

Svrtnsse said:


> I used the "write what you know" as a way to link into "know what you don't know".


Yes, I know. I was just trying to elaborate with example.



Svrtnsse said:


> The things you're aware you don't know are things you can research and learn about. Things you don't know you're ignorant about you will keep being ignorant about. Chances are this ignorance will show through when writing about these things.


If that is true, your research in the subject matter is lacking. If it's in your story, you should have the knowledge.


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 9, 2014)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> Yes, I know. I was just trying to elaborate with example.


Fair enough. 




T.Allen.Smith said:


> If that is true, your research in the subject matter is lacking. If it's in your story, you should have the knowledge.


Definitely. The issue is with things you're unaware you don't know enough about. 
I guess this can be tied back to the original topic. Some readers apparently have this notion that women can't pull off writing dark fiction as well as a man could. It's in line with how they've been brought up and matches their image of what women are. They just assume that their preconceived notions they've lived with all their lives are correct and don't think to question them at all.

Logically, these people would probably realize they're wrong if they stop to think about it. The issue is many of them don't.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Feb 9, 2014)

Svrtnsse said:


> The issue is with things you're unaware you don't know enough about.


Can you give an example of this?


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 9, 2014)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> Can you give an example of this?



Myself when I joined here.

I was quite convinced I was a gifted, talented and awesome writer. I just needed to sit down and actually get my story written and everyone would love it. I posted some things here on the Showcase forum, expecting people to praise me for how good it was. That didn't happen. Instead I ended up with a list of advice relating to things I'd barely even heard of (passive voice, active prose, tension, etc.).
The more I started digging into it the more I discovered I had left to learn.

If I hadn't come across this site I might have just blundered on blindly and eventually self-published a glorious contribution to the bad reputation of self-published fantasy. 

I might have stumbled on some other site, but I might not. The issue is I thought I was awesome and I never really stopped to question it until someone else questioned it for me.

I don't know if you've ever tried learning a second language? It's similar. At first you get to a point where you're fairly confident with it and then all of a sudden you get past that point and you realize how insanely much you have left to learn.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Feb 9, 2014)

Svrtnsse said:


> Myself when I joined here.
> 
> I was quite convinced I was a gifted, talented and awesome writer. I just needed to sit down and actually get my story written and everyone would love it. I posted some things here on the Showcase forum, expecting people to praise me for how good it was. That didn't happen. Instead I ended up with a list of advice relating to things I'd barely even heard of (passive voice, active prose, tension, etc.).
> The more I started digging into it the more I discovered I had left to learn.
> ...



Okay, now I understand you and it seems we're talking about different things. 

What I'm referring to is a specific item, procedure, or event you include in a story, like how to operate a particular weapon, or how to perform a Caesarean section. If its in your story, you should have the knowledge to write about it intelligently & accurately.


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 9, 2014)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> Okay, now I understand you and it seems we're talking about different things.
> 
> What I'm referring to is a specific item, procedure, or event you include in a story, like how to operate a particular weapon, or how to perform a Caesarean section. If its in your story, you should have the knowledge to write about it intelligently & accurately.



Ah, that would explain it. 

I agree fully. 

One of my main concerns when writing is missing out on this. I worry that I'll take something for granted and just include it out of habit without thinking.

A practical example would be the knight in full armor. There's this popular misconception that the armor of a mounted knight is so heavy that they can't walk on foot or get up on their own if they fall over. I bought into this for a long time without realizing it's incorrect. 
I like to think I've got a clue on things, but there may very well be other things like the armored knight that I take for granted but which are incorrect.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Feb 9, 2014)

Svrtnsse said:


> A practical example would be the knight in full armor. There's this popular misconception that the armor of a mounted knight is so heavy that they can't walk on foot or get up on their own if they fall over. I bought into this for a long time without realizing it's incorrect. I like to think I've got a clue on things, but there may very well be other things like the armored knight that I take for granted but which are incorrect.



Okay then, if you're aiming for historical accuracy, what lesson does that experience teach? It should teach us not to assume knowledge & make a practice of confirming our beliefs through research.    

Therefore, if I'm writing a scene where a knight is pulled from his saddle and can't get to his feet, I need to look into several aspects of the scene to ensure accuracy. What is the name of the hooked weapon use to pull the knight to the ground? What type of soldiers commonly used that weapon? What tactics would they employ? How would they try to dispatch a felled knight? What would they be dressed like? How heavy would the knights armor be realistically, and how would that impede movement, if at all? What are the weaknesses in a suit of armor that could be exploited? How many hands tall is the average Destrier (to gauge potential damage of the fall)?  These are the types of questions I'd need answers to before writing the scene.   

So I stand by my earlier comment of "If it's in your story you should have the knowledge", or at least go get it.    

You know what they say about assumptions....


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Feb 11, 2014)

"Write what you know" means "Write about characterizations and emotional experiences you're familiar with," not "write about subjects you've personally experienced." Anyone can do the research to figure out what fighting on horseback in armor was like, or how to perform open-heart surgery, or how to lose a tail, or how to disarm a bomb.

But no amount of research can tell you what it feels like to fall in love, or to fall out of love, for example.


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