The best writers seem to write about what they know. This would be a universally accepted statement of fact by most writers/authors. The stories are written about people, places and things they have experienced or observed in their lifetime. Typically they have visited or even lived in the places they write about. Others write about places they have read about at length, but never actually visited. Either way, they have some sort of strong reference point for their chosen setting.

Many characters in their stories are individuals whom they have encountered during their lifetime. Some have been admired and others despised. Rarely have I found a writer draw a character from something else they have read. Some authors take parts of characters and combine them into someone completely new. For the sake of literary integrity, which, may I add, is a very important component of all writers/authors constitution, characters are created from the minds or experiences of the writer and are never so clearly identified that they can be easily recognized as any real person.

A number of writers find inspiration through significant events in their lives. It could be derived from a loved one, someone they were very close to at a young age, but usually it is someone that has had a strong influence, either of a positive or negative nature. You may immediately think of a tragic event, or even death as a prime motivator, but that may not always be the case. What causes a person to be so enamored with the questions of life, enough to want to turn to writing as a result; is really anyone’s guess. As readers, we are lucky to be able to share in the creative energy that forced the hand of an author to create such a work that just had to be shared with the world. It’s like chasing a ghost to try to figure out what was the pivotal event in a writer’s life that made them decide to write. What a humdrum world it would be without them coloring it.

Whatever the inspiration, whatever the turning point, writers often write to fill a need they are unable to describe. Writing and the creation of stories is a way of examining their own psyche, of releasing the experiences they have a desire to share in their writing. And don’t think you have to experience tragedy, or be exposed to something sinister to start writing. There are many successful novels and works of non-fiction that are not about crime and violence and discovery of the dark side of humanity.

By Jerry D. Simmons
Author and former executive with The Time Warner Book Group