Art in Writing

I remember when I went to elementary school and I took an art class. It was a lot of fun, but one thing the teacher told us has always stuck with me. She said that every artist puts a little bit of themselves in every project. I found myself thinking about that recently and it hasn't ever been more true for me than it is now. I find myself relating to the characters that I write more than ever. I wrote one who worked in a shoe store at the time that I was working in a shoe store with the same inner thoughts as I had. I also just started writing about a character who distances herself from most people, someone I find that we can all relate to. No, I don't think the average person is anti social and ignores others, but I think we've all faced times where we've felt alone. The character that I am writing now is a werewolf named Anyssa, she's someone that I find myself relating to more than I've ever related to any of my other characters. She's been through a bad relationship and does her best to avoid getting into a new one, but sometimes things just happen. Although it's not a romance, it has elements in there like a love interest. A good story is more complex than just going from point A to point B. The reader has to enjoy the ride or they won't pick up anything else that you've written. In a way, your reader knows you better than anyone. They are reading something you put time and effort into, something some people might say is part of you.

Why I decided to write about one of the worst things that ever happened to me

I came across an article recently asking for personal essays that involved any stage of romance, and since I am not doing so well financially, I decided to write an essay. I sat for awhile, just staring at a black screen. Anyone who's written anything in their life can relate to that, and also how annoyed they get writing the first sentence and deleting it over and over. I usually write fiction since my life isn't that interesting. Finally I thought of something, but I wasn't sure that I wanted to go there. I wasn't sure if I was healed enough to write that particular article. Would anyone even want to read what I had to say, or would they think that I was just trying to shame my ex? I thought about some of my favorite authors and started to write the article. In the past I had cried whenever I thought about the event, but this time I didn't. This time I flew through writing the article, even finding things to add when I was finished. When I was completely done I sat there, staring at my computer and thinking about what I had written. Should I submit it under a pen name?After some debating I decided to submit it under my name. While I hated what he had done to me, I knew that he had only made me stronger. I'm not sure if the magazine will publish me or reject me, but I really hope that it publishes me. If it doesn't I plan to revise the article and try again.

The problem with basing a character on someone you know

In my soon to be released book, there's a character named Trevor. Trevor is not one of the main characters, but he is important to the story, and he's based on my ex-boyfriend. A long time ago I dated a guy who treated me so badly that I knew I wouldn't get over it unless I did something. I started writing a story with a character based on him. This is the only character that I have ever written based on someone I know in real life, and I don't plan to write about anyone else that I know. I also told the ex that I was writing about him, and he didn't seem to have a problem with it. He said he wasn't going to read it, even though at that time we were in a "good" place again, but he said it was cool. I stopped during a small frame of time when he was back in my life. I guess I couldn't write a character based on someone when I had fresh emotions towards them. I started writing about zombies, and didn't look at this story again until I got stuck on the zombie story. When I looked at this story again, I realized that this story was good! It was the kind of story that I would like to read, so I started working on it again. I edited what I already had, and then started adding new parts. I realized when I edited it the second time that the story was too personal. There were things I'd written about that I would have been horrified to release to the world. I had to really look at Trevor's character and fictionalize it more than I had. I had to think about his motives and come up with a reason for him to want to hurt his ex-girlfriend. I also had to alter their past relationship so that it no longer mirrored the one I had. I had to think about my own ex-boyfriend and wonder if he would have done the same things that Trevor did. Thinking about my ex while writing this was the worst part. You think about all the pain you endured because of that relationship. What I thought was a way to get rid of my pain actually ended up causing me a little bit more pain. I think it would be different if I was writing a character based on a friend, but I would still have to think about that friend in terms of motive and how they would behave. I think it's actually harder to write about someone you know, instead of someone you've made up. I don't regret including a character based on someone I know, but I don't foresee myself doing it again.