“We can teach from our experience, but we cannot teach experience” – Sasha Azevedo

As a writer, there will be times when your knowledge alone will not be adequate.

In other words, if you’re honest with yourself, you will sometimes not have enough personal experience based insight, to do a good job writing on a subject or theme – even if it’s your specialty.

Personal experience will always be a viable source of unique writing “material” which a writer can weave into his/her prose.

Certain subjects simply cannot be understood by reading or hearing alone. They need to be experienced.

As a result they can be quite difficult to write about, if you do not have any personal experience (at least by way of observation of live events) to draw upon.

Examples of such subjects include “living in poverty” or say getting into “flow” or “the zone”.

Personal experience gives you greater insight, and equips you to do a better job of writing.

The following true story provides a good example :

A news reporter seeking an interview with the vice president of a Toastmasters’ chapter, agreed to attend the latter’s Saturday club meeting as a condition for getting the interview.

During the event, he was however surprised to be unexpectedly asked to address members on a topic chosen only moments earlier.

Later, during the interview, he asked his host about the incident. The vice president explained that the purpose was to make the reporter experience how members were trained to think on their feet by delivering spontaneous speeches.

The expectation was that he would gain better understanding to guide his writing. As the reporter himself admitted in the published interview, it worked!

Your lack of experience can make you keep drawing blanks – what some would (wrongly) refer to as being due to writer’s block.

What You Can Do?

Either get someone who has relevant experience to supply the insights you need (making sure to give due credit to him/her), or go out and get the experience yourself. It’s the most practical way to solve this problem. And what you get by doing it (i.e. the experience-based insight) remains yours permanently.