Confess and tell all

[KG Christopher]

I have been reading this article about biographical works in today's Guardian.

I know that, even though I am writing YA, I am constantly referencing my own life experiences that I try and weave into my own stories.

I don't think its about feeling a need to reveal all, or catharsis, I just think its personal experiences we can relate to.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/20...emoirs-biography-writers-feel-need-reveal-all

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Catharsis and closure.

YAK. So sick of those concept I could puke. You are right, KG. It makes sense to use what we know, without it suggesting a case of requiring counselling or analysis.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Confessional memoirs remind me of that old saying 'Where there's muck there's money.' Confession might be good for the soul, and it doesn't harm the bank balance either.

I've used personal experience in my writing, not just to write about what I know but also to spread awareness of things to the reader. For instance, I mention some of the medical issues I've had by giving them to my characters, showing how their mood is affected by gout, depression, aspergillosis and exploding head syndrome. This added verisimilitude, but while doing it in my first novel The Perfect Murderer I had the horrible thought that readers might attribute the peculiar sexual obsession I gave to one of my secondary characters as something that I like doing!

What people think about our writing is out of our hands, and simply doing what we do marks us as unusual. At least with fiction, we can continue to cope up with fresh tales. Confessional writing has an element of painting oneself into a corner - what do you do next?

 

[KG Christopher]

Catharsis and closure.

YAK. So sick of those concept I could puke. You are right, KG. It makes sense to use what we know, without it suggesting a case of requiring counselling or analysis.

Yes, that's what I was thinking, I mean, I would be so uncomfortable writing about something I don't have direct experience of, for instance a base ball match in the US, but something like rugby, well that's fine.

 

[KG Christopher]

Confessional memoirs remind me of that old saying 'Where there's muck there's money.' Confession might be good for the soul, and it doesn't harm the bank balance either.

I've used personal experience in my writing, not just to write about what I know but also to spread awareness of things to the reader. For instance, I mention some of the medical issues I've had by giving them to my characters, showing how their mood is affected by gout, depression, aspergillosis and exploding head syndrome. This added verisimilitude, but while doing it in my first novel The Perfect Murderer I had the horrible thought that readers might attribute the peculiar sexual obsession I gave to one of my secondary characters as something that I like doing!

What people think about our writing is out of our hands, and simply doing what we do marks us as unusual. At least with fiction, we can continue to cope up with fresh tales. Confessional writing has an element of painting oneself into a corner - what do you do next?

We need reference points. The trick, I think, is transferring our personal references to our art. For instance, there is no way I think you ever murdered someone, but the art of imagining a situation is what drives our ability to think up new ideas. Our personal references are triggers that help in the process.


That's funny you mentioned aspergillosis. I remember calling the doctor for my father, years ago, in Ireland, my father had had a small stroke. The doctor came and asked him about medication he was taking, I can't remember the whole list, but the doctor was trying to find out what he could prescribe him. Anyway, my father had some kind of fungal infection and was on some anti-fungal inhibitors, about 3 different tablets a day. The doctor said to him. "Its not a doctor you need, its a garden center"

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Heheheh...

 

[Carol Rose]

After a while you're going to run out of personal experiences and will have to start making stuff up.

I've written about a ton of stuff with which I have no personal experience. Researching new experiences is especially easy today with the Internet. My heroines and heroes have gone through things I've never gone through, but I know people who have gone through them, and I simply ask questions. Most people are more than willing to share the emotions and mind-set they experienced, as well as what it feels like day to day to deal with the memories. If I can't find real people to talk to about it, I find online support groups and message boards where I can glean the same information.

If I wrote only about my own experiences, after a while all my books would sound the same and readers would get bored. As writers, part of our gift is the ability to make things up. We should be able to sprinkle in just enough reality to make it convincing to a reader. I haven't yet had anyone say that something I wrote wasn't authentic, so I must be doing it right.

As for catharsis and closure, there are a few stories where I worked through my own experiences by giving them to a hero or heroine, but I got all that out of my system a while ago. Now I've moved on, and the real challenge is finding new backgrounds and demons to give them all after this many books. There are only so many times you can use the same background or personal challenges for a hero or heroine before readers start to notice.

 

[KG Christopher]

I suppose catharsis and closure is a common enough theme in all art. And even as part of therepy after trauma, you are encouaged to write about your experience, or get it out of your system by producing a painting or music.

I don't know Carol. Your own personal experiences must have acted as a trigger to get you into writing in the first place. Probably the first pieces we write about are direct experiences, and as you say, over time we tend to move onto other themes. Anyone who is writing SIFI is in no way basing their writing on real events ? or are they?

 

[Carol Rose]

Um, not really. I was eight when I started writing. I didn't have much to draw on yet. LOL!! I wrote stories about squirrels and aliens. No personal experiences there. I was never one to write about my own journey through life. I just wanted to tell stories about anything and everything. Like I said, I wrote some of my own experiences into early stories by making that part of a hero's or heroine's background, but nothing specific triggered my wanting to write. It's been a part of who I am from as far back as I can remember.

 

[Bernard Stacey]

Yes, that's what I was thinking, I mean, I would be so uncomfortable writing about something I don't have direct experience of, for instance a base ball match in the US, but something like rugby, well that's fine.

Just add padding...

 

[KG Christopher]

Um, not really. I was eight when I started writing. I didn't have much to draw on yet. LOL!! I wrote stories about squirrels and aliens. No personal experiences there. I was never one to write about my own journey through life. I just wanted to tell stories about anything and everything. Like I said, I wrote some of my own experiences into early stories by making that part of a hero's or heroine's background, but nothing specific triggered my wanting to write. It's been a part of who I am from as far back as I can remember.

The first thing I wrote was a letter to Bilbo Baggins, I was probably 9 or 10, asking him to stop smoking as it was bad for his health, but I was impressed with the smoke rings. I got a reply from him also, probably my teacher in school.

I get what you say about applying experiences / events to your characters. Your characters are real empty slates, ready to be scrawled on, regardless of the background.

I wonder what the connection is between squirrels and aliens? You do realise you could be getting into a lot of hot water with the UK based people on this site if you mention the WRONG kind of squirrel

 

[Carol Rose]

I wonder what the connection is between squirrels and aliens? You do realise you could be getting into a lot of hot water with the UK based people on this site if you mention the WRONG kind of squirrel

LOL!!!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

The Greys shall abduct you, and hold you to ransom for all the Nutella in the world.

 

[KG Christopher]

coming over her, taking our nuts

 

[Alistair Roberts]

? Ops, maybe a bit of proof reading needed?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Pass the smelling salts!