Identity Theft

My characters take a lot out of me. They take my time and my creative energy. They gobble up hours and hours of my sleep. And sometimes they even steal my identity.

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It’s strange to see your memories play out in someone else’s life. It can be embarrassing, sometimes painful. But I guarantee the scenes that touch a reader most deeply are those that contain an honest to goodness, real life experience. One that made the author laugh out loud, cringe in embarrassment, or write through eyes blurred with tears. Reviewers often refer to my stories as emotional. I take that as high praise.

The benefits of writing through your painful memories are twofold. Firstly, the hard, painful life lessons we all have to learn — the truth — albeit well disguised, makes for good reading.

Secondly, writing through experiences that have impacted me deeply is therapeutic. I’m always amazed, when I sit down to write, at the things that come tumbling out. The experiences, some decades old, that I never really resolved, present themselves for consideration. Giving those experiences to my characters helps me to distance myself and see them from a new perspective.

And it’s always interesting to see how life turns out the second time around.