A television comedy-drama mini-series – by Bob Denton
The situations encountered in THE CHAIN are based upon my own experiences. I have moved home more than twenty times – that’s three times the UK national average! In fact the issues navigated by the characters, do not begin to scratch the surface of the tragedic and comedic situations that I have encountered first-hand.
Moving can often be fraught, but it is also an adventure, you are sailing into the unknown, building a new future, new experiences. THE CHAIN follows the experiences of five couples in a fraught property chain.
But writing about what you know is not a universally accepted principle:
 | Mark Twain said: Write what you know. |
 | P D James agreed: You absolutely should write about what you know. There are all sorts of small things that you should store up and use, nothing is lost to a writer … All experience, whether it is painful or whether it is happy is somehow stored up and sooner or later it’s used. |
 | Kazuo Ishiguro argued: ‘Write about what you know’ is the most stupid thing I’ve heard. It encourages people to write a dull autobiography. It’s the reverse of firing the imagination and the potential of writers. |
 | Dan Brown suggested instead: You should write something that you need to go and learn about. |
 | Lee Child stated: I think [write what you know] is very bad advice. Very few people know enough to make an exciting story, and very few people can escape the clotted and overcrowded prose that usually results. |
 | Ken Kesey agreed: One of the dumbest things you were ever taught was to write what you know. Because what you know is usually dull. |
As always, you can find every shade of any opinion, on any subject.
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