Day 10: Debunk another cliché - "Write only about something you know"

The guide says: "Write only about something you know" is nonsense. "Tom Clancy had never been a submarine commander before he wrote The Hunt For Red October. And it’s a safe bet that Richard Bach had never been a seagull before he wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull."

Instead, it suggests "write about something you love."

I've checked out another Michael Crichton's novel, "Disclosure," we'll see how it goes. The beginning is a bit similar to "Prey:" a middle-class family and a hint of programing or computer problem.

I also read many online stories about affairs and getting pregnant from it. As I said, they are sad stories.

Two similar stories but from different perspectives attracted my attention. They were on a message board. A long-divorced mother, probably in her late 40s, went to live with her daughter's family for some reason. This mother felt an intense and uncontrollable attraction to her son-in-law and started to seduce him. Finally they ended up in bed--and got pregnant from the affair. She regretted and panicked: "What should I do? I'm a monster!" She called herself.

Many people offered different advice, many scolded her. This mother admitted she was a mess-up: she used to be a teen mother (16 and then 19) and later abused drugs until she found religion.

Later she updated: she lost the baby. The doctor said she was just too old to keep a baby.

A woman left a message telling about her own story: 28 years ago, her husband whom she loved dearly suddenly disappeared without a trace. She was devastated, got married 4 or 5 more times. She never understood why until she got hold of him days ago. It turns out her husband had an affair: with her mother. Amazingly, this woman didn't use her own story to blame and attack. She just presented it. She also said she wouldn't confront her own mother: "She already knows what she did. I don't have to remind her." I thought she probably should: that will be a closure. But maybe she got her closure already.

Imagine his woman's at least good 30 years have been ruined by her husband and her own mother. Terrible.

But these mothers have issues, and when we get into understanding of those issues, we might not blame them so much.

I think stories like these are something I like to explore. 90 more days to go.