How your life affects what you write

Sad Life — Sad Poetry?

When I was really young I wrote a poem about a love story with a heartbreaking end. I was maybe 10 years old and had not yet experienced the kind of romantic love that I have written about.

So where do our writings originate? How is it possible that I could write about something, I have not yet experienced?

The first thing that impacts how and what we write is empathy. Without empathy it is hard to imagine how something or someone will feel, when you have not experienced it for yourself.

Then there is another influence: Imagination. Of course. Imagination and daydreams are helping you make up entire worlds in your head. Fantasy does not need to be rooted in reality. So it will not matter if what you write is real or not. You can simply fly into an imaginery reality.

Now the third one might suprise you: Friends. The people closest to you might appear in your stories. Not necessarily because you intended to write about them, but because people that are close to you, will inspire persons and even whole characters in your stories. This might happen subconsciously. But it is only logical … You wonder why? Well let me explain this concept with the fourth point …