Dear Geist,

Which of the following sincere but conflicting advice for non-fiction writers do you agree with? Write what you know. Write what you don't know. Write to find things out. Know what you write. And any others you want to add!

—Bren-Lee Coost, Cyberspace

Dear Bren-Lee,

Truly there is no shortage of heartfelt advice for writers, especially for those who are just getting underway, and yes, with contradictions. Reading advice is like reading books, though—we recommend you sample it all, whether you're just getting started with non-fiction or going into your umpteenth year, and look around for more, especially when it comes from writers you admire. Try stuff, ignore anything that doesn't take you anywhere, and don't spend too much of your writing time online. As for advice to “Know what you write,” that simply means to find out everything you can about your subject, which you're doing anyway, right?

Here is one of our favourite sets of advice for non-fiction writing of any sort: (1) Ask yourself (repeatedly) how you would know that; and (2) Don't write anything you cannot know.

—The Editors