All writing is, in some way, rooted in our experiences

The story you want to write isn’t always the story you need to write. Before finishing my novel, I was under the impression that my characters could exist without unsolicited influence. In other words, I believed that my story would be entirely free from my unwanted personal experiences and emotional obstacles. I quickly learned that I was wrong—it’s almost always impossible to prevent trauma from trickling into your writing.

-- Danielle M. Wong (Writer's Digest)

Whether you do it actively (as your teacher is requesting) or subconsciously, your life experiences will have an impact on what you write. It is inevitable and impossible to avoid. Even if you have the greatest imagination in the world, it is shaped or flavoured by the things you have experienced.

I imagine what your teacher is trying to get you to do is accept this and use it to write better fiction. Rather than holding yourself back trying to avoid it. I once thought as you do, writing about my personal life was invasive and unpleasant. I didn't want to do it and avoided it whenever I could.

In my final year of high-school we were given a writing prompt, "Write a story centered on your favourite childhood toy." I didn't realise at the time how personal this prompt was and went ahead and wrote from it. What followed the piece of writing of which I am the most proud. It is emotive, unique and compelling. I submitted in for multiple assessments and received full marks each time, including one assessment where creative pieces are rarely well reviewed.

What I learned from writing that piece has made me a better writer. It highlighted things I was good at, and where I needed more practice. It added depth to my characters and allowed me to connect with my writing on a level I hadn't achieved before. So while it is easy to say "of course you don't need to" there is no one way to be a great author; the more I think about it, yes, writing about your own experiences is a valuable step on the way to being a better writer.

But it's too personal and I don't want to share it

That's fine! I believe that this kind of writing isn't for sharing, it is for you and making you a better writer. Do what you need to get through these classes, write with the bare minimum of details, or even make something up! They won't know the truth.

But when you feel ready, write something like this for yourself, you might just learn something about yourself along the way.

posted over 4 years ago

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