Part of Me

[image error] The #evernighties Thursday Weekly Author Blog Challenge is a once-a-week blogging adventure brought to you exclusively by Evernight authors. Each week, we answer a new question (listed below and borrowed from MFRW.org) and the answers will be featured on the Evernight Reader’s Group on Facebook, as well as our own blogs and social media platforms. Check out the group or follow the #evernighties tag to see how other authors answered this week’s question!

[image error]

Week #3: How much of myself is in my writing

This is a really interesting question this week, and the answer is kind of complex. It’s one I like to think about as a writer, though.

First, I think I put a good bit of myself into my writing as far as passion goes. Whatever I’m passionate about/into at the time happens to be what I usually write about. I mean, I think it would be hard to write about something you’re not really interested in. So I do tend to focus on subjects, places, and things that I’m fascinated by. I assume most writers do, and that’s the biggest part of ourselves that we put into our writing.

I also sometimes add personal preferences to my stories. My characters might have some trait or habit that I have, or they like (or don’t) like something that I do. No one character I’ve ever written is EXACTLY like me, but sometimes I give them a bit of my personality. I think that’s natural as a writer too–it’s part of that “write what you know” advice we get whacked over the head with. I might pull from my own memories or childhood to give a character a backstory, but again, no character is a carbon copy of me.

And of course, my characters sometimes end up in places I’ve been and I draw from those experiences. Life translates to fiction, after all. I think it’s fun that way.

What about you? Do you put yourself into your characters?