Writer's Fallout Shelter

I think the expression has more to do with your experiences. (One could partially relate this to the age discussion earlier.) I, a mild-mannered boy from California, would not, for example, attempt to write a book about a party girl drug addict from Japan without doing a fair bit of research. Think of famous authors: Twain wrote largely around the Mississippi, where he lived; Jane Austin's books were almost exclusively set in and among people and society she was familiar with; most of the good science fiction writers have some sort of physics/astronomy background; modern writers of mythical stories (e.g. White, Tolkien, LeGuin, etc.) have a heavy background in classical mythology...

Well, I think you get the idea.

There are, of course, exceptions. It's more good advice than an absoluteism. But knowing things, rather than just hearing about them is essential. I do a lot of research on any topic which I'm not familiar with.