Writing Fiction course assignment:
Listen to audio of different writers discussing their motivation for writing and why they write, then answer the questions
- What were the similarities in their respective journeys towards writing?
- How much did fact mix with fiction in the way their own life experience and personal circumstance influenced them as writers?
- What elements of your life experience and personal circumstance do you think might influence your writing?
Most of the writers said they had grown up always doing writing of some kind, whether it was comics, journals, or short stories. A few of them said they wanted to write about things that made them angry.
Personal circumstances definitely had a big influence on them as writers. Actually, I don’t know any of the writers who were speaking ( Alex Garland, Michèle Roberts, Tim Pears, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Monique Roffey and Louis de Bernières.), but you could hear how different their writing topics would be just based on what they were saying. For example, one woman talked about how going to Catholic Church every Sunday for years had a BIG impact on her and what she writes about.
I think in my writing I useda lot of personal life experiences or experiences that I have heard from others. Whenever someone tells me a crazy or a funny story, I file it away for future reference. Another thing I really love doing is reading science and cultural articles. The more I read them, the more I think that I could use this weird fact or tidbit in a future story.
For example, I recently had a dream where doctors had to cut out my twin which had been a part of me since birth, but was starting to interfere with my body like this man. It was a horrifying dream. And yet, it had all the makings of a good movie or story!
