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Personal experience and writing

Firstly, thanks for all your thoughts about Game On 3. I feel a lot better about writing Bree how she is supposed to be now! I did get a little bit of work done on the story, and I'm hoping to squish in time to write some more between work over the weekend. (Working at the weekend is a habit I need to break!)

Next question. You know in the front of books, where the author writes that thing about "any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental"? Is that ever REALLY true? Every author, well, most authors, confess using incidents and occasionally characters based on people they know within their stories.

So, how does it work? How much is too much? I get that using a work of "fiction" to fully chronicle something that happened in your own life might not be the best way to do things, but where is the line drawn?

Have you ever used personal experience in your books? And if so, did you ever feel like you'd put in too much of yourself, or people you know/knew?

Comments

  1. Anonymous10 January 2014 at 10:16

    I always sneak a trait from someone real into my MCs. Helps character building from my POV I feel :D

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  2. Dianne K. Salerni10 January 2014 at 11:52

    I don't think that any character I've ever borrowed from real life recognized him/herself, nor has anyone recognized a situation that I borrowed from my real life. Of course, I write historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy -- so the characters and situations are all substantially altered in the book.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tara Tyler10 January 2014 at 12:03

    first, congrats on game on 3 progress!
    and my first attempt at writing was totally based on all my friends. fictional story but true personalities & histories... i will be doing a major rewrite if i ever go back to it (awesome chick lit!)

    happy friday!!

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  4. Jennifer Joyce10 January 2014 at 14:04

    I think it's totally fine to borrow personality traits or get inspired by real events. As long as it is inspiration and not simply a carbon copy of somebody's life.

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  5. Alex J. Cavanaugh10 January 2014 at 15:04

    I think it's just a legal thing so no one can sue you.
    Believe it or not, I really don't draw much from people I know, or from myself. Characters in a movie, maybe a little...

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  6. Rachel Schieffelbein10 January 2014 at 15:35

    I've used bits from real life. I wrote a short story where how the couple met was similar to how I met my husband. Now all his friends say it's a sex story about him. Yeah. Won't do that again.

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  7. M.J. Fifield10 January 2014 at 16:00

    I've used some real life experiences in stories. It's not so much an issue in my fantasy series, though, but in my contemporary stuff those parallels can always be found.

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  8. Sheena-kay Graham10 January 2014 at 17:56

    I think that line is just to prevent lawsuits and messages from annoying people. I hate both so I'm keeping it. Fictional, real...I use everything that fits. Congrats on your progress Kyra.

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  9. Dana10 January 2014 at 19:52

    I definitely draw from life, although just in bits and pieces. Characters seem more real that way, I think.

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  10. Annalisa Crawford10 January 2014 at 20:02

    There is something that has happened to me in every single thing I write - either a thought, conversation, moment, feeling. Yep, every single one! What I don't do though is use real people, so I guess that disclaimer holds true for me.

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  11. Christine Rains10 January 2014 at 20:23

    I take bits and pieces from myself and from people I know or that I've read or seen elsewhere. I've never taken a whole personality and made it a character in my stories, though. It's a cover-your-butt kind of disclaimer! Heh. Have a wonderful weekend!

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  12. Vett Vandiver10 January 2014 at 21:14

    I love using personal experience in my books, but I usually change the names! :)

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  13. Tammy Theriault11 January 2014 at 18:40

    My current WIP doesn't have personal experience but my newest one I literally have to use my experience to make it believable. I guess you have to draw the line where you would include others in a non complimentary way. Then that's just venting the wrong way ;)

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  14. Mia Hayson12 January 2014 at 16:38

    I take feelings rather than experiences most of the time but I'm sure personal experiences are how we write you know? <3

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  15. PK HREZO12 January 2014 at 20:17

    absolutely! I think most writers do from time to time, but I get the feeling that whole disclaimer is purely a legal statement to avoid lawsuits. I definitely had to use it Butterman Travel cuz it has a historical scene and people in it, so I had to state in the beginning that it was recreated as imagination and not real.

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  16. Morgan12 January 2014 at 23:41

    That's funny... I've never thought about this before. I totally draw off of real people... so yeah! :)

    ReplyDelete

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