Hey I'm not going to waste peoples time much. I have a lot of profound and exciting / meaningful experiences as well as some pretty nasty ones from when I lived in South Africa. I'm just finding it hard to bring myself to write about it - some of the stuff is pretty heavy duty. Does anyone else find it hard to write about their own experiences? especially some bad ones? I think I could do a good story on some of my experiences when I was a child (from the age of 5 to 8).
Your last sentence is interesting because nothing lends perspective like the passage of time. You may have to let more of it pass before you're removed enough from the events to write about them to the best of your ability. Distance can bring clarity. If I were you, I'd probably focus on those early childhood memories and let the African ones percolate for a while. And yes, writing about uncomfortable experiences is difficult. I'm only now wrestling with writing about events which occurred 40 years ago. I guess, since I'm apparently such a slow learner, I'm going to have to write about current bad experiences in my next life.
Thanks for the advice. About writing in the next life - we will all have to wait and see if such a thing exists!
I never have thought about writing something based on one of my own experiences. I mean, I have before in a journal/blog, but nothing like a story. After reading this topic, I realized I do have a lot of experiences with traveling. The road has it's own message for some that's for sure.
I never wrote a memoir or anything (if that's what you mean) and I don't think I ever will because I don't think my life is really that interesting for one haha But when I write stories I usually incorporate one detail into one of the characters lives, usually the main character. The main character is usually a girl, and I make it so she lives alone with her father, her mother dying for some reason years before (usually its a disease but sometimes I think car wreck too). The reason for this is because I lost my mother when I was real little to lung cancer so it's easier for me to associate with the main character if she lives in the same situation I have, although I usually write her as an only child rather than a middle child.
