We're always told to do it in our writing and deep down we all know that it'll make our work better. Yet some of us still struggle with it, saying things like: "my life has been too boring" or "no-one's interested in what's happened to me".
That. Doesn't. Matter.
Maybe not everything in our lives is book-worthy, but that doesn't mean none of it is. Something as simple as experiencing a failed relationship or losing a pet can be drawn from and used in the story. Not necessarily every detail (that would be a bit too much personal info), but the emotions would be the same: the pain or the grief, and could be drawn from.
This is where us younger writers have a slight disadvantage to older ones: we just haven't lived as much as they have. They have a whole encyclopedia to draw from whereas we only have a notebook or two (in most cases anyway).
But even these little things can be usable, and we can always use those wonderful things: our imaginations! Just think of the situation you want, and imagine how you'd feel in the place of your character and hey presto!
Okay, maybe it won't be that easy, but it's a way to get started. Most of us - if we pay attention to things around us - will have an idea of how people will react to certain things. All we have to do is tailor that reaction to our character.
For example: I was bullied for chunks of my childhood; not in the physical way, but certainly emotionally, and it's only in the last few years that I've managed to get out of my shell a bit more.
Well, my main character is a bit excluded from the majority of her society; so I'm drawing on some of my feelings of isolation and emptiness, to make it more effective and realistic. I'm not using everything, but just enough to make it believable.
Your book doesn't have to be your life story. But if you can't use real emotions, you're going to find the writing proccess a whole lot harder.
On slighty different note: thank you RaeAnn for being my first follower and commenter!
It's good to know someone out there is actually reading my blog :D
Hope you liked this post
W-O
If there's a like button, I would have hit it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Word-Otter, and I would love it if you could check out my blog too!
=))))))
p/s. About critiqueing, I wanted views and opinions from a reader most importantly, but you have to check on my grammar too, coz it sucks too!
I beg your pardon, Word-Otter,but can you do me a favour instead...Just send me an email(empty one will do) so that I can get your email address easier. My email address, you can find it on my blog, at the Contact me page. Thanks!
Deletep/s. sorry for the inconvenience.