I am going to play devil's advocate and confess . . . I don't know very much, at least not anything that anyone would want to read about. How could I ever be a writer if I was limited to the pigeon holed advice of only writing what I know? When I say I don't know anything I'm not trying for modesty but as a way to explain that it doesn't stop me. I've altered the advice of writing what you know to writing what you WANT to know. In my book Loved Like That, I wanted to write about a cop. I knew nothing about police work other than I was miffed over a few tickets in my past. One of which I was certain to include a poem called The Highway Robber along with my payment. Instead of relying on my experience with those two tickets, I went and researched and learned first hand about police work. I spent a few weeks doing ride alongs with a buddy of mine that is a cop. I also put in a scene about rock climbing, so I went out and learned how, recording everything carefully in my mind so I could transfer those thoughts and memories to my story. Yes, write what you know, but make certain to be going out and learning new things so that what you know is interesting enough to be put into print.