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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44204
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

## I couldn't disagree more!

I almost argued in the comments but restrained myself because that would have been tangential and unproductive. Sure, asking what to write and not being able to write about something could coincide, but they aren't causally related in any way in my view.

Let's look at the [question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/44199/trials-to-claim-a-throne) as an example. The first thing I thought when I read it was that the writer had an idea they loved. It was going to be their plot and they were going to use the rich cultural symbolism of Norse mythology to help deliver it.

**The problem:** They didn't know much about Norse mythology and/or ancient rituals and realistic ascension rituals/practices. Sure that could be problematic. **_Are writer's really never to explore things they don't know or understand??_**

This is the role of research in writing. The message shouldn't be to give up. Don't ditch ideas that you are inspired by because you don't have the information to explore the idea. **Go get the information.**

Some people will try to get that information by asking other informed individuals. In fact that is one of the best ways to get information. The fact that we have a protocol on specifically how to request information (and what information we will provide) doesn't make that question less of an information request. If the asker reapproaches the question with new verbiage and possibly takes some of the questions (because there were a lot of questions underlying that one) over to [Mythology Stack Exchange](https://mythology.stackexchange.com/) they may even receive constructive answers.

**If the writer is faced with a wall of lacking the information required to move forward, and are unwilling/unable/uninterested in finding it, then they should drop it until such time that they can/will.**

Original score: 5