Writing from Personal Experiences
Much like Mark Twain and Laura Ingalls Wilder, a lot of what I write comes from my personal experiences and interests. For years, I have wanted to write a book. After 1995's terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, I decided to write about my own experience as a teacher, just four and a half miles away from the blast. My dilemma was that I did not want to cheapen the experience. When finally I was able to establish a main character outside of myself, my first story came to life.
Crumbling Spirit is my story, told from the point of view of a student instead of from a teacher. By stepping back into a different character, I was able to see the scene with different eyes. That seemed to allow me to describe the scene more vividly. It also allowed me to put more of the actual emotions into the story. While the teacher had to remain strong for his students, the student was allowed to show tremendous emotions in the midst of such great loss.
When writing Out of the Wind, I took a different approach. I wrote the story from five different points of view, but used many personal observations. I wrote in first person point-of-view for each of the characters. I also wrote in present tense - in order to bring students into the moment. I wanted the reader to feel what my friends and I felt during and after the 2011 EF5 tornado that attacked Joplin, Missouri.
Any writer can do that. Try it. Try telling about something you have experienced, but tell it as someone else. I find that it shows me things about myself that I did not previously know.
Crumbling Spirit is my story, told from the point of view of a student instead of from a teacher. By stepping back into a different character, I was able to see the scene with different eyes. That seemed to allow me to describe the scene more vividly. It also allowed me to put more of the actual emotions into the story. While the teacher had to remain strong for his students, the student was allowed to show tremendous emotions in the midst of such great loss.
When writing Out of the Wind, I took a different approach. I wrote the story from five different points of view, but used many personal observations. I wrote in first person point-of-view for each of the characters. I also wrote in present tense - in order to bring students into the moment. I wanted the reader to feel what my friends and I felt during and after the 2011 EF5 tornado that attacked Joplin, Missouri.
Any writer can do that. Try it. Try telling about something you have experienced, but tell it as someone else. I find that it shows me things about myself that I did not previously know.