Knowing the skill vs drawing/writing the skill

[igneriss]

Does knowing a certain skill help you in drawing or writing about this skill?

For a very long time I was pretty sure that knowing a skill makes drawing it WAY easier. I mean, I know how to cook and bake, and I can draw it without any refs needed. I also can draw a lot of lab equipement without looking it up, and I'm pretty sure I'd be able to draw electronics in a hearing aid without looking it up, well, at least some of it.

...but then, last year I signed up for swordfighting classes (to be exact, sabre classes, so the same weapon one of my characters uses) and somehow I feel like I suddenly lost my ability to draw swordfighting scenes for some reason when I now try to draw it correctly, it just... looks incorrect.
But maybe that's because I now am more aware of a technique and what is correct? And maybe because I'm still a beginner, so the very little new skilll I have can't yet translate to drawing it better. Well, let's see, maybe I can improve my swordfighting scenes if I improve in my classes

But that got me curious, do you also have a skill that you have trouble drawing or writing about, despite knowing the said skill quite well? Or maybe drawing a certain skill has become much easier for you once you've yourself obtained it?

[Leyelle]

Writing characters who are poets I think is definitely easier for me AS a poet, and since I'm obsessed with art, writing about that is better the more I know about paints and textured canvases. Definitely important since my MC is an artist.

Outside of the realm of skills, I tend to write things set in scenarios I'm familiar with too, for the sake of realism. The hospital Kattar is in, while never shown, because it's a novel, is inspired by the hospital my older brother was in as a teenager. Many of my characters are Hispanic, so ways of speaking and traditions are based on my own family.

I definitely think having a lot of knowledge of a skill makes it easier to write about it, drawing would probably be a different matter because it doesn't rest on your brain's understanding alone but your ability to translate that to your hands.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

For me I'd rather double down on practicing the drawing part of the thing I want to draw. I don't need to know how to do it to learn the visual representation of it.

[Kelheor]

Can't draw people holding a pen, that's-a me!

[thepenmonster]

do you also have a skill that you have trouble drawing or writing about, despite knowing the said skill quite well?

I have a lot of trouble depicting people who are rad as hell.

[kyupol]

I have a little bit of MMA experience...

Here's some scenes I've previously done:

Eman is making newbie mistake of looking down as he's overwhelmed with punches.

Lucia's chin is still tucked or at least trying to... considering being fatigued. It's hard to keep hands up when you're tired and /or just took a beating.

[cherrystark]

Ultimately, I only think it "helps" if the topic is important to you as a writer/artist. A lot of fight scenes in the movies are choreographed like dances and are supposed to be more aesthetically pleasing than accurate.

For me, I'm a big "feeler" when it comes to my writing. In my main series, I wrote a character's panic attack accurately to my experiences based on a list of commonly reported systems. It seems like people would rather read something that feels real to them than something "accurate".

[lignorice]

My answer: yes for writing stories.

If I had to write about auditor's life, financial statements, business processes, crochet, game development (especially the concepting process), and other things I personally ever dwelled, I'd put in specific details that people outside the field may not know. For me, it gives out different feeling from only watching or reading references. I can always writing from watching/reading references, but those who are really in the field knows.

If you have the time and money to go to classes, do it! I agree with swordfighting you mentioned. When you learn for real, you'd know the details you missed when you only read/watch references.

About writing the skill that I know, I haven't really try to write anything related to skill that I know. I don't want to write a novel, or even short stories about my job (most of my skills, well, what I acquired for daily job). If we're talking about crochet, I can't draw someone crocheting even I have been doing it for years this also applies to holding a pen!

[DasIstWunderblyat]

My skill of turning everything into chaos for the worse and being a scummy person in general works perfectly in the story I am writing. Sorry, I cannot relate with your problem.