“Most writers’ ideas and characters come from life
experiences. And why not? It’s in your life and work, after all, that
you come in contact with lots of interesting characters. And I say characters, because people you have
experience with in your life tend to make up the personalities for the
characters in your writing.”
– Dan Jorgensen
I
like to quote
writers on the occasion of their birthdays and today happens to be one
for me. This is a statement I like to share with book clubs and writing
groups whenever I meet and talk with them. After
my Tween sports novel Sky Hook came
out a woman who had played on one of my basketball teams as a girl (I coached
girls basketball for many years) called me and said “That was me in that story, wasn’t
it?” And of course it was.
I’ve
held a lot of jobs and done a lot of volunteering (and volunteering also is a
great way to do things that give you these special experiences). I’ve been a farmer, cattle herder,
meatcutter, worked at a grain elevator and as a crop sprayer. I was a waiter, been in the Army, coached
both boys and girls basketball, been a bookseller, acted in community theater, played golf
(badly, but I did get a hole-in-one), done public relations and lots and lots
of writing, and taught creative writing and journalism.
A writer's ideas come from the world in which he or she resides. More often than not ideas come as bits and
pieces but I always write down every “bit” and every “piece.” Part of the puzzle of writing is to try to
fit the pieces together at a later date.
I
think it is a mistake, by the way, to go right to work on an idea – you should
let it percolate in your brain for a while, sort of like
coffee. It will either get richer and
grow in stature or you’ll realize that it’s acidic and needs to be dumped or re-brewed. Happy writing and happy "writer's moments."
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