--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Write what you know and embroider the…" description: "\"“Write what you know and embroider the rest - Sue Cross”\" — Sue Cross" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/sue-cross-183422_writing_write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-re_1626270.jpg" --- # Write what you know and embroider the rest - Sue Cross ![“Write what you know and embroider the rest - Sue Cross” quote by Sue Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/sue-cross-183422_writing_write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-re_1626270.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/sue-cross-183422_writing_write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-re_1626270.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/sue-cross-183422_writing_write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-re_1626270.jpg) > ““Write what you know and embroider the rest - Sue Cross”” Sue Cross ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing from personal experience grounds narratives, while creative embellishment adds depth and intrigue. **In simple terms:** Write truth, then embellish. Key Takeaway Blend authenticity with imagination. Themes writing creativity authenticity Mood creative instructive Type advice guideline When to use this quote - Blogging - novel drafting - scriptwriting - educational content Key Concepts novel writing personal essays fiction workshops story development Questions to Reflect On - When to stay factual vs. fictional? - How does embellishment affect reader trust? A Different Perspective Over‑embellishment may dilute credibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Concentrate, don't embroider.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-tracy/concentrate-don-t-embroider/) [Spencer Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-tracy/) > [A recipe is not meant to be followed exactly - it is a canvas on which you can embroider.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-verge/a-recipe-is-not-meant-to-be-followed-exactly-it-is-a-canvas-on-which/) Roger Verge > [A writer should not so much write as embroider on paper; the work should be painstaking, laborious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/a-writer-should-not-so-much-write-as-embroider-on-paper-the-work/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“You’ve already said all that. Don’t embroider on it, but prove it!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/you-ve-already-said-all-that-don-t-embroider-on-it-but-prove-it/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [The job of the novelist is to invent: to embroider, to color, to embellish, to make things up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-job-of-the-novelist-is-to-invent-to-embroider-to-color-to/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“As someone else once said, "Write what you know". Well I know very little, so I write, and illustrate, Nonsense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-h-tubb/as-someone-else-once-said-write-what-you-know-well-i-know-very-little/) Paul H Tubb > [Write about what you know, that's what I say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-widdicombe/write-about-what-you-know-that-s-what-i-say/) [Josh Widdicombe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-widdicombe/) > [Some writing courses will advise you to write what you know. I've always thought this is very odd advice ... because it means, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/some-writing-courses-will-advise-you-to-write-what-you-know-i-ve/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) > [You can only really write about what you know about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-singleton/you-can-only-really-write-about-what-you-know-about/) [John Singleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-singleton/) > [Nowadays it seems as though people sit down to write what they know is going to be a trilogy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/nowadays-it-seems-as-though-people-sit-down-to-write-what-they-know/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“The old nut goes, 'Write what you know,' but often a writer is clearer about what he doesn't know and must learn about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-bell/the-old-nut-goes-write-what-you-know-but-often-a-writer-is-clearer/) [Susan Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-bell/) > [I'm trying to write something in which you know that it's all about sex but you never see any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-m-trying-to-write-something-in-which-you-know-that-it-s-all-about/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I write about what I know, what I live, what I observe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-momsen/i-write-about-what-i-know-what-i-live-what-i-observe/) [Taylor Momsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-momsen/) > [It’s not just the adage ‘write what you know,’ it’s about gathering up all of the knowledge and experience you’ve collected up to now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-kay/it-s-not-just-the-adage-write-what-you-know-it-s-about-gathering-up/) [Sarah Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-kay/) > [“When I write to please everybody, it falls flat. When I write what I know, fearlessly, It won't please everybody, but it doesn't fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-p-chavez/when-i-write-to-please-everybody-it-falls-flat-when-i-write-what-i/) Ronald P. Chavez ## More Writer quotes > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/regardless-of-the-criticisms-i-receive-from-the-left-the-right-and/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [If I don't know who I'm writing for, I make it up and pick somebody I'm writing for. That's really the only way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-mazin/if-i-don-t-know-who-i-m-writing-for-i-make-it-up-and-pick-somebody-i/) [Craig Mazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-mazin/) > [At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-schwartz/at-the-very-beginning-i-was-a-page-at-letterman-and-i-freelanced-for/) [Ben Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-schwartz/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I might, by chance, write something just as shoddy; But then I wouldn't show it to everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/i-might-by-chance-write-something-just-as-shoddy-but-then-i-wouldn-t/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [“Note found in the patron suggestion box: "You have SIGNS up near the computers that say BE QUIET, but people don't be quiet. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-sheridan/note-found-in-the-patron-suggestion-box-you-have-signs-up-near-the/) [Gina Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-sheridan/) [Browse all 43,858 Writer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Write what you know and embroider the rest - Sue Cross”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sue Cross" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-cross/write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-rest-sue-cross/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Writer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-cross/write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-rest-sue-cross/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/sue-cross-183422_writing_write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-re_1626270.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/sue-cross-183422_writing_write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-re_1626270.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/sue-cross-183422_writing_write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-re_1626270.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Write what you know and embroider the rest - Sue Cross” — Sue Cross", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sue Cross", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-cross/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Write what you know and embroider...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-cross/write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-rest-sue-cross/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-cross/write-what-you-know-and-embroider-the-rest-sue-cross/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```