Writers' $ense: Use Your Experiences
When I'm asked about my occupation. I answer I'm a writer. The question that follows is: "Where do you get your ideas?" The conversation stops and everyone waits for the answer. It feels like I'm revealing a secret recipe or a patent for a nuclear product. When I say, "My ideas germinate from what I read, see, taste, hear, feel, want, lack, in other words - my experiences." There is a pause. The conversation changes no one dares to ask me anymore about my ideas. The word experiences conjure various visions in the listeners' mind. For many, it's a hot button topic. Experiences are personal, not always welcomed in polite company. Writers use experiences as the fodder. They stir their observations, encounters, and interactions to conjure a character, a point of view, a setting, an antagonist, not to mention new worlds. Every human being contains a treasure trove of experiences waiting to burst forth into a story. Our seven senses ar
