Drawing from life experiences for story plots.

Writing is an art fairly dependent on your imagination, yet there are times imagination needs to be sparked into life. It is necessary that writers read and read anything that interest them. You never know how that bit of information about the sleeping habits of Amazonian otters could help out in your next spy thriller. Now before you start subscribing to National Geographic of Nature magazine, another source of inspiration is your own life experiences. Some writers may not agree with me on this one because it could lead to writing that is pompous and bordering on indulgence.

True. Writing from life experience can be inhibiting to the imagination because one can be locked into a plot that is linear. It is always better that one uses life experiences as a guide to a story. Life experiences can give the air of authenticity to the story. Give the story the sense of realism, that is often times missing in a tale. Conversations will sound real, actions logical and reactions will be seemingly recognizable by the reader.

But in using life experiences, one must make liberties to stretch the story a little. To add surprises to the tale. Surprise yourself even. Don't be muzzled by the outcome of the experiences. Sometimes, in the story, the character may want a different outcome or may guide the plot in a direction totally different then what you know it should be.

Use life experiences but allow room for surprises. Happy writing!