[AlexG]

In our previous session of Inside the Writer's Studio, we covered personal philosophies – now as a natural extension we turn to another, if but similarly related element of story writing.

They say the best writers write what they know best from personal experience(s).  This can range from job related knowledge and personal recreations to memorable (some would say, unforgettable) events in the course of a person's life.
(i.e. JRR Tolkien turned his interest in ancient northern European languages and mythology into the Lord of the Rings, which in the Silmarillion story, "Of Beren and Lúthien" was inspired by the courtship of his wife)

As an example(s): perhaps you have used people that you know / have known in the real world as inspiration for any of the characters, good or evil, in your stories?  Or have you ever incorporated a personal situation/event from the course of your life, perhaps an anecdotical one that no one would believe actually happened except in a work of fiction.
(i.e. Scott Adam's Dilbert comic strip.)

Would you include it – or not?

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[TC2]

I guess I'll be the first, with a resounding yes.

With the exception of one character, all of my stories have characters that are based off of real people I had met and known throughout my life.  Naturally, their behaviors and personalities have been modified to suit the universe they live in.  For example, I'm pretty sure that most of the real women I have written about would most likely be very freaked out by the amount of strength and muscle I give them in my stories.

I've also tended to make some of the character smarter than they would normally be, for instance Marissa from Black Sheep is certainly not as overtly intelligent as her real life counter part.  Though I know deep down she had brains because she was complimented as a great writer, she was just very dumb and lacked common sense at some points.

So with the characters based off real people I also had to base how they interact in the world based on how I have experienced things.  Responses get more exaggerated as they become muscled up and start rampaging of course, but everything is grounded in the reality of things I've seen.

So of course, including real life experiences should practically be mandatory in a story, they are what makes it possible to relate to the characters and the world they live in.

[MagnusMagneto]

Depending on the level of anonymity you wish to keep while writing a story (this fetish is kept secret for some, myself included), extremely obvious past experiences may be left out.

However, I think that many real life experiences as well as those that we experience in imaginative realms (like including a growth sequence from a comic or movie) find their way into stories unintentionally. 

Alternatively you could view fantasies experienced by writers as personal experience, which almost all of these stories are based on.

[Lingster]

I've put lots of stuff in my stories.  The Rutgers characters from The Amazon Artifact are based on a group of girls I knew there in the early 90s.  I had recently graduated from college myself, was living in the area and dated one of them – "Alex".

In hindsight she was an awful person.

[AlexG]

Depending on the level of anonymity you wish to keep while writing a story (this fetish is kept secret for some, myself included), extremely obvious past experiences may be left out.

True, typically most will use a subtle hand in describing real world indeviduals and/or events they personally experienced.

On the other hand, there are occasions where a blunt hammer has occurred.

For example, while painting the Last Judgment, Michelangelo Buonarroti had problems with a papal official who'd vociferously criticized his work – specifically demanding he paint over the "naughty parts" on the nude men and women.  Irked, he painted the official into the scene being chieved into Hell, and with a huge snake as coverage for his genital.  Outraged, when he discovered this artistic revenge, the man demand that the Pope order Michelangelo to take him out of the painting.  Amused, the Holy Father replied: My son, if Buonarroti had placed you in Purgatory I could pray for you, but as all know there is no reprieve from Hell.

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[JimmyDimples]

I don't know who said it, but someone said that one real, live person's life should have enough experiences for 6 characters in a book.  And while I'm no Indiana Jones, I have written and retold a lot of incidents from work, life at home (why do you think many of my writings are in Small Town, Southeast USA?), people I've met (pleasant or not), and even unpleasant experiences. (A German Shepherd attack when I was 3 inspired one combat moment in "The Stray," f'rinstance.)

Writing what you know makes the whole thing more realistic and accessible to the reader.

Of course, the names of the people and places have been changed to protect the innocent.  But if Ma and Dad ever read my stuff… they're gonna automatically know who wrote it. ^^;;;;

[10-4]

Sure. I'd do it.

[Mimi]

[font=times new roman]~Mimi[/size”>[/font]

[pelourinho]

Most everything I've written in this genre is at least loosely based on true experiences and actual people I have known.  I change their names and often locations, but everything else in the stories is absolutely fact-based.  ;D

Seriously, though, I have written about real people I have encountered and will continue to do so.  The point about anonymity mentioned earlier isn't really a factor, since I doubt very much that the people involved would ever read these stories, and perhaps nobody I know would, either.  Still I feel a responsibility to disambiguate any identifiers like name or home location on the slim chance that I might be divulging a sensitive secret about anybody involved.

[Author]

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