Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Turn Bad into Good

Since I’ve started to take writing seriously, I’ve noticed some changes in myself. For example, after experiencing a difficult time, I look back at the situation and not only learn from it, but file it away as a possible story idea.

“I’ll have to write a book about that,” I’ve said, then laugh with my friends. But I’ve never meant it, until now.

Turn bad into good.

Maybe this new way of thinking is a coping mechanism for negative experiences in my life or is it something more? After all, these situations and feelings are real. Readers could relate to what I’ve gone through. Now, add a new spin to the idea, a couple of twists, and voila. Instant story. In fact, I’m brewing one up right now…

What about you? Have you ever taken a life experience and turned it into a story?

19 comments:

  1. I think life experiences are the best things to work into a story. It helps people identify with your characters. You know?

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  2. I've written them out so others can learn from them, but that's not the same thing as turning it into a story. Great perspective though! What an awesome coping mechanism!

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  3. All. The. Time. :)

    Sometimes, you've just got to laugh at life, and knowing I can turn it into something worthwhile (or at least, submittable) make it easier to chuckle.

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  4. The first novel I ever finished was a fictional retelling of a horrible break-up I had experienced. I never fixed it up, but it was the push that made me start to take writing seriously.

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  5. That's a really great way to look at things :) I think it's a good idea. I've been reading over old journals and I think turning the bad memories into stories would help turning the negativity into productivity.

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  6. i can honestly say i don't think i've ever written anything based off a life experience. What can i say? My life is pretty boring...

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  7. I totally have! Especially just the emotions related to things in my life. In fact, I think the best fiction is born from reality.

    Great post!

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  8. My current WIP is based on real-life stuff, but in a fantasy kind of way. I have no idea if that even made sense. :-)

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  9. I've used bits and pieces of my life in my stories, but mostly just the emotions that go with them. It's all about writing relatable characters and this is one way in which writing what you know can really appeal to readers.

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  10. Hi Lynnette ~ Nice blog! I use my own rocky road life in my stories all the time. I think there's a little of me in every character. Writing, even fiction (based on fact or not), is cathardic and healing. And you're right: there are stories all around us and in every moment of our lives.

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  11. I'm doing that right now. Not my own life experiences, but that of my in-laws and a father of a friend, all who were children in Germany during ww2.

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  12. Have you ever taken a life experience and turned it into a story?

    Not directly. My last book was written just after I had been through an emotionally-rough few years where I built up a lot of anger.

    My protagonist was this gloriously cantankerous and snarky bitch. In hindsight, I know exactly where all her venom came from, but at the time, I didn't realize what I was channeling.

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  13. ALL the time. And it's the plot of my current manuscript. :)

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  14. I haven't thought to do that, but it's a pretty solid principle. I will try to remember that. Although some people have a bit more exciting lives and are bound to have more material to work with than others.

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  15. I do it quite often. I think it's a lot of fun to write something that has happened to me into my characters' lives.

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  16. I am guilty of doing this, but I'll never admit to which part is fact and which part is fiction. : )

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  17. My first manuscript was full of events from my childhood (fictionalized and made cool of course) and it was very cathartic to write. I agree that saying to yourself "I'll have to use that for my writing" helps you deal with bad events. If it's something happening to you right now, you automatically get a little distance and perspective, and you feel that sharing your experience might benefit somebody, so it makes it easier to see the good side and endure. I think it's one of the biggest upsides of being a writer!

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  18. Like some of the other commenters, I often use snippets of real events from my life. I feel using such factual details adds emotional reality to an otherwise imaginary scene.

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  19. Yes. My writing is an outpouring of all the emotions I've experienced. When I truly let myself go, don't hold back for fear or self-consciousness, I get something so amazing. People connect. People heal - especially me. And, I get the best compliment, "You are so real." Be real, write from the heart, take chances!

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