When I was a young college student in creative writing classes, I thought, “Wow, my professors have so much life experience! They are so interesting!” I had no idea that they were probably looking at all of us and thinking, “Oh, to be young again!”

“Write what you know” is a common phrase tossed about in writing courses. And I’m sure there’s something to it. But now that I’m older and have plenty of life experiences (some I wish I could erase), I find it sort of funny that my latest book series (the third book comes out tomorrow!) is based on a story I wrote when I was 12 years old. In fact, I often find myself trying to get back into my 12-year-old frame of mind so that I can have a better sense of what will be entertaining to my readers.

All of this leads me to the question, Is Life Experience Overrated?

All I know is that I’ve got no shortage of hard-won wisdom, yet I’m still writing about pantsing the school principal, so you tell me….