1. microfinance

    microfinance New Member

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    writing book

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by microfinance, Sep 10, 2010.

    I am wondering if having a rough childhood and adult life qualifies for writing generally to the masses, what do you think?
     
  2. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    The ability to write well is all that matters. No one will care what your background is if you cannot write a good story.
     
  3. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    Only if you are writing an autobiography about rough childhood. Personally last thing I want to write about is the misery of my teen years. My education and imagination are what drive my writing.
     
  4. SashaMerideth

    SashaMerideth New Member

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    Like, everyone has a rough childhood, some are worse than others I guess. I think it depends what you write, if you do something about someone who has it rough, then maybe? I dunno, I kinda get fed up with sob stories though.
     
  5. Taylee91

    Taylee91 Carpe Diem Contributor

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    by Cog

    Oh yeah, definitely! It doesn't matter whatsoever! You write what you want and write because you want to :D Don't let anything stop you from achieving your dreams.

    T
     
  6. microfinance

    microfinance New Member

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    ok, but my life is pretty unique. I were raised in quite unconventional settings, is that something to build around?
     
  7. queen_guinevere

    queen_guinevere New Member

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    I suppose. Would you be thinking about writing your autobiography, or using parts of your childhood to write a fictional story?
     
  8. microfinance

    microfinance New Member

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    hmmm, good idea. Maybe I can write a fictional story about my knowledge, I cant remember everything of my childhood anyway
     
  9. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributor Contributor

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    Everything we do and experience can go into a story. No idea where mine came from though. It will colour what ever you write.
     
  10. HeinleinFan

    HeinleinFan Banned

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    The quality of your childhood, as such, doesn't seem to matter nearly as much as your experiences, the information you've collected, and your perspective on the world.

    When you are writing a story, you will be making up characters out of whole cloth. Bits of your own experiences will probably go into them, as well as your opinions and whatever bits of setting you've researched or lived through. But just having a rough childhood will not particularly set you up to be a better character-maker or story writer than someone whose childhood was less rough.

    That said, I wouldn't be surprised if people with harsh childhoods were better at evoking complexity in young characters or cruelty in villains. But "better" doesn't mean "better in all cases," it just means such folks might have a bit of an edge. Of course, you have to practice and work at it to make the edge mean anything.
     
  11. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    We are shaped to some degree by our experiences, and we can take both positive and negative influences from them. A difficult childhood may well, as HeinleinFan suggests, have provided me with some dramatic story lines, ideas for characters and a motivation for retreating into my own world to create them, but it did not make me a better writer. Indeed, it was likely instrumental in robbing me of the confidence I needed when I was young to say, "I'm going to be a writer", thereby delaying for a very long time my conviction that I could and should write.

    I will tell you what I wish someone had told me - don't let your childhood experiences alone define you. If you want to write, do the things you have to do to learn your craft, and then go do it to the best of your ability. Stay true to your inner voice and don't let anyone divert you.
     
  12. Trilby

    Trilby Contributor Contributor

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    Have you started writing your story?

    If not then I would say start writing and see how you get on. See how you feel about it once you see it written down.
     
  13. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    Good or bad, everyone's childhood experiences influence them to a certain extent. But you don't have to write only dramas about your own life experiences, and I'd say it's more of a DISadvantage to have grown up in a possibly book-deprived, language-impoverished environment if you want to be a writer. So on the whole, I think a stable or even privileged background, preferably with plenty of contacts in the business, is far more useful!
     
  14. Islander

    Islander Contributor Contributor

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    Tough life experiences do not make you a good writer, but if you have writing skills, you can draw on your experiences to give your writing more depth and emotional impact.

    That doesn't mean you need to write realistically about your childhood. One's experiences can be used in crime stories, fantasy, historic fiction, anything.

    So get those writing skills, if you don't already have them, and write about what feels important to you.
     

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