Write What You Know, When You Don't Know.

"Write what you know."  You've heard it, I've heard it.  Really, anyone who writes has probably heard it.  There's something to be said about writing what you know, it definitely makes things easier.

I've been working on the romance, I've gotten some headway into it.  Not much mind, but some and it took my mom passing me a book entitled "Changes that Heal" to make me realize why I was having such a hard time.  It's a wonderful book for everyone to read regardless, but one of my characters is supposed to be a church counselor so he can help one of the main characters partway through.  I'm a writer and an actor primarily though I do a lot of other things as well, I am not a psychological based person.  I took general studies, I have a degree in it with a minor in English.  I know about a LOT of things as a result, but somehow I still managed to come across a character whose profession I don't know enough about to write comfortably.

It turns vague and indirect, I don't have those vital details that really make a scene or that make characters that live on in your heart long after the story's over.

It's amazing how important those details can become.  Here's the best part about being a writer though, if you don't know enough you can research to learn more!  Yay!  If you're finding that a character, situation or plot is feeling uncertain or you just can't quite make it work, take a look not only at the details of the scene you're writing but the feeling while you're writing it.  You might just need to research a little more information or in the case of fantasy, create a little more thorough detail to get that firm grip of the scenes or characters that need more dimension.

So don't be lazy, the internet's a wonderful place and has a lot of answers and if you can't find them there, take advantage of libraries while they still exist!  If you think of it you can even email or get in touch with an expert.  Often, especially if you're respectful, they're happy to talk with you about your book.  Give them a thanks on the thanks page though, that's just good practice and they did help, so praise where praise is due.

We're not limited to what we know but to write what we don't know we need to learn it well enough to fake it.  We're writers, we're capable of wearing a great many hats.  Don't feel limited just because you don't yet KNOW something.  Life too short to let that stop you these days!