Yesterday was a disaster. I threw my back out (the bed hates me, apparently) yesterday. It's mid-back pain, muscle pain, so I know it'll heal if I just let it alone. However the pain was so intense I couldn't sit! I finally had to go home early and down a handful of Ibuprofen (note: poetic license, do not down a handful of any pill. Especially Viagra. Don't ask how I know that. Best week ever, BTW.)
I had to lie flat, so writing yesterday didn't happen. I'm not happy about that.
But it got me thinking. So many writers put their personal experiences in their writing. Stephen King comes to mind, for one. Some of that is useful, life experiences a writer goes through can make their work more realistic. But they shouldn't put everything in there. Their personal life and personal tragedies need to stay out of a story. I can think of several writer's whose work got derailed by their personal life or their politics or their religious conversion/disillusionment.
I think that if you're writing fiction, write fiction. Tell a story. Don't use your readers as your group therapy session. So, I'm going to try, very hard, not to give Jacob or Jael sudden, stabbing back pain in my current novel.
I had to lie flat, so writing yesterday didn't happen. I'm not happy about that.
But it got me thinking. So many writers put their personal experiences in their writing. Stephen King comes to mind, for one. Some of that is useful, life experiences a writer goes through can make their work more realistic. But they shouldn't put everything in there. Their personal life and personal tragedies need to stay out of a story. I can think of several writer's whose work got derailed by their personal life or their politics or their religious conversion/disillusionment.
I think that if you're writing fiction, write fiction. Tell a story. Don't use your readers as your group therapy session. So, I'm going to try, very hard, not to give Jacob or Jael sudden, stabbing back pain in my current novel.
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