Using Real Life Experiences in Your Writing
It can be a bit of a dilemma, deciding whether or not to use parts of your own life within your writing.
Personally, I believe that it is impossible to get away from your own life experiences when it comes to creative writing.
Your views and opinions on the world are likely to come out in the characters you create and the tone of writing style you adopt in your non-fiction writing.
Your non-fiction writing will often be based upon the knowledge you have of certain topics, and no matter how hard you might try to keep your writing 'opinion free', let's be honest, some of the best non-fiction writing comes when a personal touch is added.
So it is OK to use your personal experiences in your writing.
I think a caveat should be added here...
it is OK to use your personal experiences in your writing as long as this doesn't lead to you deliberately offending others, and as long as any portrayal of people you know is done with their consent only, and is true to reality.
You do not want to end up with a court case on your hands after all! So how can you use your personal experiences within your writing? There are lots of ways: - Use your personal experiences to enhance a non-fiction, informative article.
Let's say that you are writing an article on how to take care of new born babies.
And let's assume you have written this article because you have recently experienced what it is really like to look after a new born child.
Adding in a little story or 'case study' here and there about your own experiences with new born children into the text will really help enhance the article, and allow it to become more accessible to others.
- Use stories or events from your life to provide information to others.
If you have ever suffered from a medical condition, depression or self harm then you will have firsthand experience in how these issues affect individuals, and can provide informative and helpful information on the subject matters.
By using your own life experiences you can find a way to turn difficult periods of your life into something that can be helpful and inspiring to others.
Similarly, if you have expert knowledge of a particular field, such as nursing, cars or golf technique, this too can be put to great use when writing a book on this subject matter.
And adding in your own little anecdotes can make the book a more enjoyable read also.
- Often the smallest little things are the most humorous.
We all have stories that we have shared with others about when we fell asleep in the pub toilets, when we fainted on the tube or even when we ended up head first in a garbage bin searching for our house keys.
Using these little stories in fiction writing can add a humorous and unsurprising little twist and can be uplifting for the reader.
- Sometimes you have individuals in your life that are unusually unique.
With their permission, feel free to carve them into great fiction characters in order to help your book stand out from the crowd.
Personally, I believe that it is impossible to get away from your own life experiences when it comes to creative writing.
Your views and opinions on the world are likely to come out in the characters you create and the tone of writing style you adopt in your non-fiction writing.
Your non-fiction writing will often be based upon the knowledge you have of certain topics, and no matter how hard you might try to keep your writing 'opinion free', let's be honest, some of the best non-fiction writing comes when a personal touch is added.
So it is OK to use your personal experiences in your writing.
I think a caveat should be added here...
it is OK to use your personal experiences in your writing as long as this doesn't lead to you deliberately offending others, and as long as any portrayal of people you know is done with their consent only, and is true to reality.
You do not want to end up with a court case on your hands after all! So how can you use your personal experiences within your writing? There are lots of ways: - Use your personal experiences to enhance a non-fiction, informative article.
Let's say that you are writing an article on how to take care of new born babies.
And let's assume you have written this article because you have recently experienced what it is really like to look after a new born child.
Adding in a little story or 'case study' here and there about your own experiences with new born children into the text will really help enhance the article, and allow it to become more accessible to others.
- Use stories or events from your life to provide information to others.
If you have ever suffered from a medical condition, depression or self harm then you will have firsthand experience in how these issues affect individuals, and can provide informative and helpful information on the subject matters.
By using your own life experiences you can find a way to turn difficult periods of your life into something that can be helpful and inspiring to others.
Similarly, if you have expert knowledge of a particular field, such as nursing, cars or golf technique, this too can be put to great use when writing a book on this subject matter.
And adding in your own little anecdotes can make the book a more enjoyable read also.
- Often the smallest little things are the most humorous.
We all have stories that we have shared with others about when we fell asleep in the pub toilets, when we fainted on the tube or even when we ended up head first in a garbage bin searching for our house keys.
Using these little stories in fiction writing can add a humorous and unsurprising little twist and can be uplifting for the reader.
- Sometimes you have individuals in your life that are unusually unique.
With their permission, feel free to carve them into great fiction characters in order to help your book stand out from the crowd.