How important do you feel it is to incorporate your life experiences into your w

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   ytsenohposted 12 years ago

   How important do you feel it is to incorporate your life experiences into your writing?
   
   Explain why.

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   DIMIRposted 12 years ago

   Probably one of the most important things is to let yourself be a part of what you write.  Literature is supposed to explore the human mind and the world around it, but the only mind (... I think) you've ever been into is your own.  Writing will incorporate your life, whether you want it to or not.  It's better and easier to let it.  Learn the ticks of people around you and use them.  Remember houses you've been to, and create the setting.  I think there is a line where something from real life in fiction is no longer okay, when you use someone's identity without permission (for publication of any sort).   There is always creative non-fiction as well, which just is you and your writing!

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   zzronposted 12 years ago

   
   
   I do because I enjoy sharing my opinion and my experiences. Most of my hubs are educational or entertaining and are true stories.

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   Aley Martinposted 12 years ago

   Much as you try, you cannot help doing so. Since we are the sum total of all our experiences and education, we naturally write about what we know and want to understand. Even fiction writers utilize that which they "see" in others and in the world. It is pretty much the way of creativity!

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   Deborah Brooksposted 12 years ago

   I do take different situations and then make them fiction... true life does make great writing..

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   hillymillydeeposted 12 years ago

   Writing comes real it you are writing a topic that you know. The things you are familiar with are the things you experienced. How can you write about depression if you didn't experience being depress? Even if you do some research and get ideas from other source, words don't always come easy, but if you know what you are writing by heart, your fingers are typing like crazy because you are trying to catch up the many ideas formulated in your brain. That's me and that's why I enjoy writing what I know and I experienced

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   Poetic Foolposted 12 years ago

   Personally, yes.  I have two profiles here on HubPages.  One is monetized and the other is my unmonetized creative outlet.  In both cases, I find my the vast majority of my hubs are based on my life experience.  For me, it makes for better writing.

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   raciniwaposted 12 years ago

   Writing for me is the Echo of my heart and the emergence of my soul...I can't write as honest as can be if i don't feel the words I have to say. I have to go a very deep contemplation first before expressing my thoughts... I need to feel the emotion and embed the words in my mind so I can utter the verbiage my heart wants to say...

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   BAndBeastposted 12 years ago

   I try to incorporate real life experiences in most of my writing. That's why I joined HubPages.com.

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    Jynzlyposted 12 years ago

    Writing for me is sharing my ideas about certain matters that catch my attention and which I have something to share and contribute. Given this premise it is but natural to express my feelings and mention my experiences as integral parts on the subject in hand. Each person has experiences unique to him. It is important that my readers will know who is the writer; it helps him to understand the reason why I write the way I do concerning certain matters.

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    daisyflowrsposted 12 years ago

    People who write biographies amaze me. They stick to the facts about the person and do not incorporate their experiences. How do they do that? Even when I wrote about a fictional character, there are unintentional similarities to me and some of my experiences. When I read books, the ones I remember most and like the best have life experiences that I can usually relate to in some form or fashion. Even when I read 1776, I related due to my military background. I feel it is important to incorporate life experiences into my writing for 2 reasons. First, free therapy! Second, people who choose to read what I write may relate and find what they read enjoyable, informative or down right disturbing with a side dish of sarcasm.

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    mikejhcaposted 12 years ago

    I feel it is very important.  If it is not based on my experiences it is just theory or someone else's life experiences.  I do not write fiction.  Most of my research involves me doing things like jumping rope every day for two weeks and recording the results.  When I did a hub on gaining muscle quickly I gained muscle quickly.

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    mriaskiableposted 12 years ago

    Writing my life experience allows me to connect with audience sharing similar stories. It is important that a writer connect with a reader.

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    Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

    I don't think it's important.  Some of the best writing/articles are what they are because they're well researched and provide more information about the subject (in one place) than most of the other stuff out there offers.  If someone's going to use that approach to his Hub, however, I think it's very important that he put together a Hub that isn't a re-hash of the same stuff that's found "everywhere else" (and often on a site that's far more authoritative than a writing site).  Knowledge of the subject or (as Google describes it) "intimate familiarity" with the subject can help a writer recognize the best resources for research; and knowledge of the subject can help a reader recognize a different angle from which to the approach the subject.  So, intimate familiarity with a subject never hurts the writing, whether or not the approach will be "completely objective and from research" or "from personal experience" (with or without research included).
    
    Having said that, I think personal experience can offer a writer a view of the subject that can make a difference in whether or not the material is unique.    The thoughts/feelings we have when we go through something can be things we'd never have imagined without going through it.  We learn.   We see more of the angles to something.  Including personal experience can increase the chances a reader who has been through something similar will think, "This person knows what's it's like."  It can also help increases the chances that a reader who hasn't been through something similar might think, "Wow.  I never realized that's something someone in that situation might think/feel."  Including personal experience (when I've done it) has helped me write from a more unique perspective.  Something else is can do is offer something different and unique, rather than the same re-hashed stuff that's out there and available to anyone who searches.
    
    So, I think personal experience is always valuable to a writer, but I don't think including it in some writing is always important.  In fact, with some writing, it's important not to include it.

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    GoodLadyposted 12 years ago

    My writing comes from me.
    So there's lots of me in there.
    It's the way I write.
    Not every writer is like me.
    Some make superb biographers, others make superb high fantasy writers, others are great crime writers, historians.
    Scriptwriters (mostly)  don't use their life experiences, though some scenes come from their life (experience).
    It does depend on the genre.

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    Sara Sweeneyposted 12 years ago

    It is imperative to incorporate, at least your perspective, if not a specific experience. Writing is art, good writing is crafted, passionate and alive. The writer breathes life into their work only when they are genuine, using their insights to add wealth to their work.
    
    As far as listing personal experiences, such as examples, into a narrative or description, my personal opinion is that is it overdone a bit. A personal story should be added when it can be valuable. Anything that can be taken out of a particular work, and not affect that piece, should be taken out.
    
    Less is more, and I say that having just written over two paragraphs to answer a simple question

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    NA the greatposted 12 years ago

    It basically reveals who we are which is very essential.

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    kmainkaposted 12 years ago

    I don't believe it's necessarily important, but sometimes it does help one harvest passion for a subject.
    
    I write a lot of fiction, personally- Things that will never, in a million years, happen to me. On the other hand, some of my most emotional poems and stories are the ones that are (loosely or otherwise) based on life experiences.
    
    I believe that if you want to max out the emotional/touching/etc scale, sometimes (not always) it helps for it to be an experience you've had. But it is by no means necessary.

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    rishwebyposted 12 years ago

    I love to share my experience and my knowledge being a writer. Sharing your experience in writing is as much cool as sharing your life with some. 
    
    So keep writing and keep SHARING

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    Alisonburgessposted 12 years ago

    Incorporating yourself into your writing is done both consciously and subconsciously.  As the beings that we are, when it gets down to it, life is all about us.  If we help someone, why do we do it?  Be honest.  We do it to feel good.  Unless we interview someone we only have our own feelings to go on, real or imagined.  If I write about Paris, which I have never been too, I have to mentally take myself there and "feel" Paris, "decide'" what I would do etc.  Even if I am writing as another character.  Our writing doesn't even have to be about who we really are, sometimes it can be about who we would like to be.  So I don't think it's a matter of importance as much as it is a fact of life that we incorporate ourselves into our writing.

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    creativebutterflyposted 12 years ago

    If you include life experience than I think the writing becomes more real and has emotion in it.   Also as a writer it flows more easily.

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    Dear Josieposted 12 years ago

    I would love my life written in a book for several reasons. I have had the craziest things happen to my body and material things, like trees falling on 3 of my cars, totaling them out.
    Also, a tree got my greenhouse at the Home I was raised in.
    Now, my body is a crazier experience. I have written a blog that would blow your mind. Read it, and I promise that you will feel better about yourself!
    My book would be useful for my children, and for anybody else with health problems. Let me know, what is your problem?

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    FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years ago

    It is impossible not to incorporate at least some of your experiences even if you are writing in a genre like fantasy. For example, maybe you write fantasy because you are not happy with anything going on in the world. However, in other genres you will write more of your own experiences such as regular fiction. It is often annoying as you unconsciously reveal more than you mean to reveal.

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    KatrineDalMonteposted 12 years ago

    I feel happy writing in self-help niche because I am able to relate to that subject based on my own life experiences.
    
    It's so much easier and fun to write about something one has either vast knowledge or experience about. The whole task of writing then actually doesn't feel like a task at all.
    
    Writing should come naturally. By writing about what I really love and enjoy I am able to express myself better by means of putting my personality into it. This gives me both personal satisfaction and a feeling of fulfilment knowing I can give something of myself to others.

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    Angela Biggsposted 12 years ago

    It is really worth it. Infact sometimes it becomes unavoidable. Your life is your biggest knowledge. You don't know about any other subject as much as you know about yourself. So your experiences are the biggest source of inspiration in writing. And moreover it becomes interesting for the reader to relate with.

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    Ana Teixeiraposted 12 years ago

    I think it's extremely important. If you write about what you know... you'll probably do it well. Writing requires a certain amount of feelings towards the subject.

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    Marcy Goodfleischposted 12 years ago

    This is a really good question. My personal opinion: It depends on the type of writing you do and the venue in which you publish. If you're writing essays, inspirational pieces, tips or guidance based on personal expertise, such anecdotes are often included. If you're writing a news piece, those things should not be included (assuming objectivity is a goal). Examine the reasons for putting 'you' in the piece and see whether it furthers the topic or theme.
    
    As an editor of a magazine, I saw writers who would write about a topic by saying, "When I went to XYZ, they were . . .". Or, "The first time I saw so & so, (etc.).". These phrases detracted from the essence of the story, so I edited them out. They had no purpose there other than to draw attention to the writer.
    
    Blogs are different - they're often first-person and include anecdotal information.

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    sashas89posted 12 years ago

    They say almost all writing is autobiographical.
    
    I find this to be a truism.
    
    Pick up any of the best fiction writers, and you'll see strong autobiographical elements.
    
    Hemingway wrote about war and women.
    
    Fitzgerald about the swinging Jazz era.
    
    Salman Rushdie wrote about being an Indian in the 70s in Midnight's Children.

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    Hubpage Galposted 12 years ago

    It is difficult to write without incorporating  your life experiences in the prose.  Websites such as Hellium.com and Examiner.com requires for the writers to use the journalist style of writing using the third person.  But even in these types of writing, the author have a style of writing that tells about their life experiences without even trying.  For an example, most of the writing websites require the active tense when writing but amazingly it is difficult for a passive person to write in the active tense.  The writing tense is not a life experience but is just a demonstration of how the style of writing can dictate one's take on events.
    
    I think it is important to incorporate your life experiences in your writing only if that if your goall and you are not hesitant or timid about divulging personal content on the internet that is not easily deleted.  I think that the purpose of the writing is important when considering to use life experiences in your life as well. Life experiences bring the writer and  the reader together and allow the writer and the reader to understand each other if that is the goal of the writer.

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    Insane Mundaneposted 12 years ago

    Writing about life experiences and/or things you have learned from experience, is one of the easiest ways to write original content.  Plus, there is no better truth than what you have learned from experience – with or without 3rd party data or scientific info or trivial hogwash.  All in all, it is good to mix it into your works, when possible, to give it that unique touch of originality.

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    RobberMagazineposted 12 years ago

    it is absolutely necessary. What would you not write, your experience should be felt beneath the text, as a body under the dress

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    ladyannoftexasposted 12 years ago

    For me telling my life story along with the many fun and comical  things that happen to me  and my family are things I want to remember and make a very good topic to write about . My life was filled with happy times as well as sad and tragic times. So, yes I will write about all these important happenings in my life as well as my families lives.

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    Adrian Lavelleposted 12 years ago

    I think it is the most important asset in writing, I feel that themore personal the life experiences are, the more you cringe at the thought that people will read about them, especially the people you have hinted at in your work, the more your writing comes to life and the more people can associate with it...

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    onegoodwomanposted 12 years ago

    It is everything............
    
    
    You can't truly " write" about a life not lived.
    
    
    Others,  take a different view or approach......perhaps they depend more upon imagination, or fantasy, some combine the two.
    
    I write, from my experience........it is what I know best.
    
    
    We are blessed with " libraries " , written from a array of fascinating minds.
    
    It should be this way.
    
    I will write from my experience, imagination and knowledge, and read from yours..........

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    Unfilteredthoughtposted 12 years ago

    Everything you write, consciously our subconsciously, is your life's story. From where you place your commas to the most suspenseful details of your 10th, 100th or final novel. For me,  it is not a question of if it is important to incorporate your life experiences, its more, how willing am I to divulge to the reader the intimate details of my mind.
    
    -Daniel

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    Schaduwposted 12 years ago

    From what I've gathered on this website already is that these aren't typically long, tedious essays people write to get graded. They write because they enjoy so. A Hub about someone explaining things you'll go through when someone in your family passes could be helpful. But if you explain first what you yourself went though, it helps the reader trust you more.
    
    I know if someone is just telling me what they think about a situation, without having first hand experience of it, it makes it a little dull and almost robotic. But if they've been there, it levels the playing field and helps bring it down to a more personal level.
    
    Much like when a parent or teacher tells you something is bad, you kind of get arrogant about it like "they don't understand what I'm going though." But if your friend brings it up, knowing how it is to be your age or in your situation, you take it much more seriously.

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    soconfidentposted 12 years ago

    Its very important that you write about life experience that way people can understand where you come from

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    DREAM ONposted 12 years ago

    I love my life because of all my experiences.l am fortunate to be very blessed.I struggle every day with my dreams and my passions.I write from the heart.That. is who I am.

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    The Writers Dogposted 12 years ago

    Since 95% of my fiction is based on my own life experience, it is extremely important to me. The first rule of fiction is write what you know, after all.

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