Many writing coaches suggest to new authors to write from what they are familiar with. That makes sense as it is easier to focus on the writing. But once you are established as a writer, Elif Shafak (a novelist from Turkey) suggests that you expand your writing into what you don’t know. That way you grow as an individual and your store of knowledge can be drawn from a wider field.
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There will be a lot more on What to write about in a future post.

​Discipline is an earmark of a good writer.
     Norman Mailer, author of the The naked and the dead spoke thus about discipline;
I used to have a little studio in Brooklyn, a couple of blocks from my house — no telephone, not much else. The only thing I ever did there was work. It was perfect. I was like a draft horse with a conditioned reflex. I came in ready to sit at my desk. No television, no way to call out. Didn’t want to be tempted.
     There’s an old Talmudic belief that you build a fence around an impulse. If that’s not good enough, you build a fence around the fence. So, no amenities, just writing.
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