This is something that bothered me ever since I sent one of my short stories to an aunt to read when I was in HS. I'm generally a content person. Sure, I've had some ups and downs with bullies when I was younger, but I've always handled it well and occupied my time with writing, reading, or sports as outlets and ways to connect with people. With that being said, what I wrote growing up tended to have darker/macabre themes. One story in particular I had my aunt proofread before I submitted it was a magical realism piece about a boy fixated with Superman wanting to figure out how to turn back time the way Superman did to save Lois Lane. His fixation with this theme leads to his suicide. My aunt immediately contacted my mother and told her I needed "help." From that day on, I was weary about having people I knew read my work. I ended up taking a Horror and Suspense genre writing class in college, but still have trouble letting people read my work because I feel like they will judge me. Its particularly hard when I write something I am proud of and excited to submit, or the three times I did get publish and I wanted to share the accomplishment with my family and friends... I end up just keeping it to myself... What do you do? Have you ever felt this way? Is it possible to create a character or story and NOT put yourself in it?
I feel this way as well. My WIP's MC is depressed and suicidal, which, in the end, he does kill himself. I worry when the time comes to let my family read it, they'll think I have problems like him, and I don't. I would just tell them before you give them the story that it has nothing to do with how you actually are and that they don't need to worry. That's my plan when the time comes to share. As for this, I think it's unavoidable. With my WIP, I find that I "sprinkle" little bits of myself throughout the story and across different characters. Ultimately, you're writing about either things you know about, or things that interest you, which in itself is a part of you. But, unconsciously, I think you will always put a part of you in your story/characters.
So... three thoughts... 1. I think we always put something personal in our work, but that's not to be taken too literally. Writing a character who commits suicide isn't obviously a sign of my own suicidal tendencies. For example, it could be empathy for others who don't see a way out of life's problems. There's a reason the police aren't out there rounding up crime authors. 2. Yep. There's a strong recommendation that writers don't share work with friends and family unless there's some reassurance they will be objective and provide constructive feedback. I never have. 3. There's a more blatant 'wish fulfillment' category of fiction, which is about the author. If I had a nickel for every wish fulfillment story I've read in writing circles. Revenge on supervisors, ex girlfriends, and teachers abound. The above points don't really apply for this type of story, they are exactly what they look like.
Your stories absolutely reflect you. How could they not? But they're not all that likely to reflect you in a remotely logical, obvious way. When I figure out what's behind my stories, it's usually months later.
I don't think that things you create are necessarily reflective of you as a person. For a lot of people fiction is a safe way of experimenting with things we'd never entertain in real life, eh? Writing about serial killers doesn't mean you want to be a serial killer, or even have some unhealthy fixation on them or something -- it can just be something you find interesting and want to explore. Me personally, I know that I have varying levels of attachment to the things I write. For example, I enter some of the contests on this forum, and those entries aren't stories that are particularly close to my heart -- they're fun prompted experiments, not the product of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Then there are more personal projects, some of which are exclusively for self-expression and not for other people to even see. It seems like people who aren't writers don't always understand that, and assume that everything you make is a window to your very soul I play with horror myself, of assorted types, but to be fair I'm the sort of person that this seems to check out for most folks. I have no problem owning the weird shit I write. Maybe that wouldn't work well for you, and you'd be better off prefacing whatever you want to share with why you wrote it or what inspired it etc as justification. The thing is that if you keep doing it, people will probably adjust. Then you can be the weird horror writer as openly as you like. All that said, I don't blame your aunt for reacting strongly, honestly -- but I %100 get your reluctance to share things after a snafu like that.
It's rather difficult to say that the stories you write aren't in some way a reflection of you. On the other hand, claiming how a story is a kind of a self-portrait of the author would be equally contentious. Reality is to be looked somewhere in between these two extremes. What I think is that the question is not postulated the right way, so I'll try to fix that by asking it a bit differently: Is what we write a reflection of our personality? And if that is the question, the answer is both yes and no. Yes, because our work is an inevitable product of our own tendencies, thoughts, views, dilemmas, etc, and no because none of this necessarily influences what we write, or at least not in absolute terms. I would say that a writer's personality always influences what he writes, but that the writer is not defined by what he writes. As writers, we are both intimately involved with the story and are inside it, but also outside of it and not affected by it at the same time.
Forgive me if I am speaking out of tern, but fuck your aunt (figuratively that is, literally would be incest). Don't let one opinion, from one person warp how you view your own work. Sure, take it into account, but if you told Thomas Harris he was a sicko for writing a book about a child killer and told him that he "needed help", he'd probably tell you to go and have sex with yourself. Get other people involved, and make sure some of them know what they're talking about. I know how it feels to have somebody react in such a weird, selfish way to something you have created. Yeah, we all need to take criticism, because that is how you will improve, but such arrogance and shortsightedness is unhelpful, uninformed and unintelligent. OK, maybe you were struggling with your mental health at the time, I don't know. But would she rather you bottle it up? Putting things on paper that are bugging you is healthy and therapeutic. However, sometimes keeping an accomplishment to yourself can be more rewarding. I write for a few car magazines, and I like to see issues that I've contributed in the shop, with nobody else around me knowing. It's quite a smug, satisfying thing to do. But in terms of putting yourself into the book? You can only see the world through one set of eyes - yours - so it can be quite hard to not let some aspects of your personality creep in. I'd say stop worrying about it. The more you sit at your screen stressing about it, the more it will harm your creativity and flow. Just let whatever is inside you out onto the page. It's the most rewarding thing you will ever do. Good luck, Sam
I wouldn't say a written piece in fiction is reflective of a person. Sure, quirks of that person will make it into the pieces that are written, and characters might have traits that reflect on the person writing, but nothing in fiction should ever be taken as literal. I'd say even in non-fiction the same thing could apply, as someone might actively choose to avoid certain of their traits making it into that piece. I've never had any reaction to my work as strong as what J.T. Woody has had, but I can say that family members and sometimes even friends will look on the things you write and not understand what the intention is with the simplest of things. It's best not to get hung up over what is said by them too often. The closest to you will often be the ones who cause you to limit yourself in creativity.
God I hope not. Though I am sure there is somebody out there thinks I live in an underground bunker fortress that is one massive mad science lab/BDSM dungeon, and I command a legion of minions while wearing ridiculous goggles, and a lab-coat over camo. I think the point is made there. Nobody thinks Clive Barker is some spawn from hell to unleash horrors on the world in strange ways. Fiction is an outlet for letting out the thoughts in your head. Think about it, most people think Metal Heads are just tattooed/pierced angry maniacs. The reality is that they are typically some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Kinda like blowing of steam, or simply clearing your mind. Unless it is non-fic, then it shouldn't matter as you are not divulging your self to the world. You are just trying to share your creative mind for the sake of others entertainment.
Writing is cathartic, I use it to let out the stuff that would otherwise fester. I also use a pen name, which some of my close friends know, but it's something I keep from my employer and workplace. Similar to what was said above, an author having "sick" ideas isn't an indication of sickness, if anything, I'd be terrified to be trapped in a room with Janette Sebring Lowery: Who knows what horrors lurk beneath the mind that produced that little bit of adorable? EDIT: Sorry to anyone who got that wall of text before I fixed it. Google's "peace treaty" with Getty Images has broken the internet.
I finally understand how someone else on this forum feels. Is it possible to create a character or story and NOT put yourself in it? I used to write short stories and poems for my high school's news/blog site (which, by the way, completely died once I had left that project to some underclassmen), and the first couple of times I wrote things, they were pretty dark, and the poems were sad. Now, I admit that I can understand sad emotions better than happy ones, but that's because I'm a shut-in and haven't had a happy thought since I learned what video games were, but it still kind of upset me when my English teacher, who was my supervisor, started wondering whether or not I was depressed or something. Now, if you didn't get it earlier, the statement about "not having happy thoughts" was a joke, and I've indeed had happy thoughts. It kind of sucked to realize that what I was writing was convincing the people who read it that I was sad. I dunno, I guess I'm just trying to express a shared emotion with the initial poster. The point is... Now, my old English teacher is a great person, understanding and generally enjoyable, so she accepted it when I told her that I was not, in fact, depressed. I get that this will make it difficult the next time you try to show someone your work, I know it did for me, but, once I just forced myself to move passed it and show my English teacher my work (she was my only reliable source of critiques, so I didn't really have a choice. Not that I would choose someone else, the things she taught me about writing are invaluable and I really need to remember her when I finally write something of substance, so she knows teaching me things wasn't a total waste. I'm on a tangent, huh?), it got easier. She accepted that I write dark things and that it didn't make me depressed, and we kept going. I guess I would say that, at least from my experience, the best course of action is to clear up any misconceptions about how "linked" you are with your work, and to just keep going despite the awkwardness cause by said misconceptions. Is it possible to create a character or story and NOT put yourself in it? Funny that, I actually almost accomplished this. I was just about to start writing my story, and then this new character popped into my head. Now, you have to understand, this character changed everything. The entire course of the story changed, the villains changed, the character arcs changed, everything changed. Now, it took me a while to realize that this new character was me, or rather, she was the kind of person I aspire to be, and she just brought the story together. Her addition really made the story feel so much more than a fantasy to me, and I know that sounds like "Oh! This story was utter TRASH without me in it!", but I swear it isn't. At least I hope it isn't. The point is... You probably shouldn't put a conscious effort into making sure that your character/story doesn't have a little bit of you in it, because the story/character is yours. I mean, if the story/character is yours and it comes from you, then that's going to show. You'll be able to look back on it all and think: "Hey, that character looks like me," or "Hey, that character acts a bit like me." If you try to remove the part of you that will naturally appear in your story/character, you'll be taking away a part of you story/character that makes it yours, and, suddenly, it'll just feel wrong, like it's an E.T. that just appeared at your door. It won't be real, it'll just be some perverse creature that you made just to see if you could. See, literally every single Jurassic Park movie for context. Specifically the part where Goldblum talks down to Hammond. I can never remember the name of Goldblum's character. I'm on another tangent. I uh, I just realized that the point of the second response has nothing to do with the previous paragraph. Whoops. I guess I could say that, once I added a little bit of me to the story, it felt so much more real to me, I enjoyed it so much more. Yeah, I think that'll work.
Everything I write is in some way a reflection of me, but I defy anyone who says that I am these characters or pine for the kind of happenings I write in real life! I think the consensus from the other answers is pretty strong: A writer is not his/her writings. That being said, the things I write are generally things I care about for various reasons. One them being 'I don't want this shit to happen.' Writing and research makes me aware of what's out there and that's a very good thing. It sharpens my perspective. So yes, what I write is a reflection of me. Not a reflection of my personality or what I desire, but what matters to me in a roundabout way. Of course there are some character traits of my MCs I find in myself, but so what? A person is a complete package and not a list of ingredients. To say that I am my characters is like saying a cake and a loaf of bread are the same, simply because both of them include wheat! I've never let family/close friends read what I write, and I'm not going to. They know the real me, and would just confuse the writer-me and me, the person. Sometimes I feel a bit alone that I'm not sharing the writer-me with them, but the benefits of staying in the closet are greater by far than getting flak. As far as my family knows I'm writing horror (that's all I told them), and as my mother put it: 'Why don't you write romance?', said with this contemplative, sad, a bit disgusted, 'I don't know what I did wrong that my daughter writes bad stuff' expression. So no, I don't want to justify myself to my family.
Haha! I came out to this forum to ask this very question... and here it is! I try to shed the autobiographical tendencies, but it doesn't always work. In the end, every character is me. It gets worse... After a few books, you find out the things you like in life. All my books are about defunct boomtowns, quirky history, and best intentions that didn't work out. So I guess I like ambition and failure, and "what could have been."
What I write about is a reflection of me. I write about subjects that have given me a lot of thought, otherwise how could I come up with the inspiration to write them? The Muse is a good explanation as well, but the Muse only tells me stories that I enjoy listening to.
There´s no way to completely get apart from your work at writing, even by abiding to an strict series of protocol. Even the qualification of a protocol to be applicable to a certain piece of text is an act of discernment that requires your criteria and involvement. So, what you write is a reflection of you, on that sense. Completely different is that if you´ll do personally everything that you write... if that would have been the case, there would not be a single risk analyst alive on the whole planet after their first day of job. Felt a cold shiver at my spine at beholding such possibility. The adorable can be way more terrifying way to asses a mind´s sanity...
I just wanted to say that the guy who painted this on the wall in his own house was apparently a very positive person: And so was this guy, apparently: Then again, I’ve also seen a documentary about a psychopath, who broke his jaw trying bite off his friend’s butt, after he had sliced her throat. He seemed like such a nice jolly fella, you know? The kind kind who always keeps laughing a little, calmly. But this all actually reminds me that your story strikes home. Back in primary school, I drew a lot of grim stuff, including my teacher... hanged. I was made to visit a psychologist, who assessed that there’s nothing wrong with me, but the kids already knew better. I liked that teacher, that’s why I drew her and naively showed it. The drawing really meant nothing, I liked medieval stuff, and felt proud with how simeteical and straight my lines were. Another time I drew a coffin with a bandaged zombie nearby and some creepy tree. My cousin stole that drawing and handed it to my aunt, who made a big deal of it. It was something I’d now expect to see on the packaging of a Halloween gadget. My other, distant aunt, very religius, will panick if you even mention say a condom... because someone could hear it, through the walls, and she’s so pure! One might say puritanical to the point of absurdity. As I see it, you have two choices. Do your thing and steer away from people you know to be difficult like that. If you can’t avoid collision with them, then you have to patiently accept it and then brush it off. Or you could stop doing your thing. Edit: I’m on an iPhone and have no idea how to fix the images. Fuck it. Just imagine some dark stuff.
Yes, what I write is a reflection of me. It even says things to me about myself that I didn't know, sometimes, if I let it.
Isn't everything we could ever possibly create writing or otherwise a reflection of ourselves? How could it not be? It came from us. It's how we see the world and life no matter how we spin it. This doesn't mean fiction is real. But doesn't the best fiction tell the truth? I do think adults need to pay close attention to red flags from children. I think that is more a reflection of today's world than anything else.
What that little Tommy/Cindy is absorbed in his iPhone/iPad and not playing cops and robbers/house or vet anymore? Seems that things have gotten quite bland in the red flag dept. these days. I guess being obsessed with GTA V is the best there is now, when it used to be collecting roadkill off the road to dissect, blowing up frogs with firecrackers, and convincing ants to invade picnics. Truly dead are the good ole days when shit was cool, and you had fun playing outside.
Hi there, I would just suggest to not give your work to family members or close ones. Like commenters already mentioned the parent want to protect the child and sees red flags everywhere, which is kind of justified. Also it could prevent you from coming further in your writing. your self esteem could go down because close people see it different then you might do, they criticise your work more subjective rather than objective. I had once the same problem, when I let my parents read something. they know I focus on horror/mistery etc, but still they just commented "this is really dark, are you okay? how are you doing? did this really happen to you?" and only because I have used the 1st person in that story. I think that is what these writing forums are for, to show things you might personally feel but want to twist it into a story, to get constructive criticism for your WRITING and style, not your personality. Although of course the personality of the writer influences the piece in some way.
By your aunt's logic, it seems crime authors are all contemplating murder...? (which, I guess they are, technically lol) Your work is always a reflection of you. However, authors explore all kinds of things - writers usually have a deep thought life, I think. Considering suicide, for example, as a concept and idea and trying to understand why others might be suicidal is absolutely not the same as actually being suicidal. It's a reflection of the fact that you find the concept interesting to explore, perhaps important to explore, perhaps you have something you wanted to say about it. Your aunt's reaction, depending on your age at the time, is understandable, but she could have been a bit more sensitive about it. If you were an teenager at the time, I'd probably have spoken to you and asked you about it first, and then if any alarm bells started ringing, then I may speak to your mother, or else encourage you to seek help. I'd have offered myself as a confidante, depending on your personality and relationships. What I would not have done is jump to conclusions and straight away tell the police. But it's writing - people will always judge you. It's part of it, I'm afraid. What you gotta ask yourself is, do you care? Why should you care? And if you wanted to maintain a certain level of anonymity, then use a pseudonym. Plenty of writers use pen names, a lot of them probably because of the same concerns - that they don't want people they actually know to know this is what they write. And to some extent, you have to say, "People will judge but to hell with them." Art is always expression, and writing is probably more specific about the message you're expressing than any other art form. Every time you voice an opinion even in conversation, you hope to get a response and some of those responses will be negative - the same goes with writing. So, how much do you care? Should you care at all? And would using a pen name resolve these issues? And if it's still a problem for you, then you gotta ask, how important is it to you to be published? Because you can write and never share your work - entirely your choice and nothing wrong with it either. But is that what you want?
I wanted to see if I could fix the images for you, but it gives me an Internal Server Error if I try... Your post must be cursed.
