Thought for the day

English teachers are always nattering "write what you know." This seems like good advice, but like any advice there are practical limits. Most publishing houses will pass on "Boogers I have picked." Now, "Boogers I have picked, and the People I Picked Them From." might find some life in an odder speciality house, but that's another story and digress. Stories about "real life and real people," run the danger of being "real boring." Many of those stories are cheats anyway. Sure "A beautiful Mind," is a real story and about a real person. But how many insane mathematical geniuses do YOU know? The upshot is I believe the story always comes first and you can fake everything else afterwards.