Friday, December 4, 2009

Using Your Life

One of the great things about writing is that nothing in life is ever wasted. It can all be recycled in a story: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

For example, you get in a fight with your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend. Well, it’s never pleasant, but regardless of the outcome you will have something to bury and use later. Not that you will recreate the fight exactly, but it will be buried in your compost pile (every writer has one) and when (perhaps years later) you’re writing a scene where lovers argue you will dig up moments from that old argument. Of course these moments will need to be changed to fit the story, but that will happen automatically as long as you’re true to the moment in the story. So—nothing is wasted.

IMPORTANT TIP: Never bring this fact up during or after an argument with a boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse. Even though, when you’ve lost one of those silly arguments, you may feel like saying, “You may think you’ve won, but I’m just putting all this away to use later when I’m working on a novel. Ha.”

Bad idea.

4 comments:

kemarias said...

that's so funny brian.

Brian Yansky said...

Thanks, Kemarias.

Sage Ravenwood said...

I came to the same conclusion when my back window was busted out of my Honda Passport. I ended up writing about it in a post titled "The Time Thug", just to get it out of my system.

Seeing as the damage was already done and nothing else could be done about it; I decided the thug could play a part in a later written piece.

It's a matter of taking a bad situation and finding some useful tidbit we can salvage for ourselves as writers.

Great post! (Hugs)Indigo

Brian Yansky said...

Love it--"The TIme Thug"--way to use a bad situation. Brian