Stuart Aken
Simple question: complex answer.
I've used a few events from my life in the plots of various novels. These are incidents that are more properly anecdotes I've altered to fit in with the lives of the characters portraying them so that there's a story element useful to the book.
Also, I wrote a short story (published in a now defunct small literary magazine years ago) centering on an incident around my birth. This coincided with the death of my father only three weeks prior. As a result, my mother was evicted from the house she occupied with my late father and my slightly older sister. I embroidered this incident to emphasise the hardship faced by homeless families. The incident itself was partially true to actual events, but I'm a writer of fiction, so I added imagined scenes and an outcome to turn the story into something with meaning.
As for a plot in a book, I'm not sure my life, varied and full of incident as it's been, is a basis for a whole novel. But we're notoriously bad at judging the interest there may be in our own lives. We've lived through the events, so what may seem normal to us can appear extraordinary to others. In fact, I've often been told that I should write my autobiography. Maybe, one day. When I've lived a full life. At sixty-nine in a couple of weeks, I feel there's much more to come yet. Perhaps when I'm in my eighties or nineties I might be interested!
I've used a few events from my life in the plots of various novels. These are incidents that are more properly anecdotes I've altered to fit in with the lives of the characters portraying them so that there's a story element useful to the book.
Also, I wrote a short story (published in a now defunct small literary magazine years ago) centering on an incident around my birth. This coincided with the death of my father only three weeks prior. As a result, my mother was evicted from the house she occupied with my late father and my slightly older sister. I embroidered this incident to emphasise the hardship faced by homeless families. The incident itself was partially true to actual events, but I'm a writer of fiction, so I added imagined scenes and an outcome to turn the story into something with meaning.
As for a plot in a book, I'm not sure my life, varied and full of incident as it's been, is a basis for a whole novel. But we're notoriously bad at judging the interest there may be in our own lives. We've lived through the events, so what may seem normal to us can appear extraordinary to others. In fact, I've often been told that I should write my autobiography. Maybe, one day. When I've lived a full life. At sixty-nine in a couple of weeks, I feel there's much more to come yet. Perhaps when I'm in my eighties or nineties I might be interested!
More Answered Questions
D. Powell
asked
Stuart Aken:
Hi, Stuart. I merely shared an observation that I have come to believe. All writers, IMO, have introduced or will share a memory of their life somewhere, in the expansion of time, now. Perhaps your POV is different than mine? That's great. Thanks for your special abilities to process a good story.
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