Here’s one thing I have learned about writing:

Trust your past, and use it.

Why do young writers tend to write fantasy or science fiction? Because they lack experience.

Well, I don’t. (lack experience, that is.)

So …

Trust your past, and use it.

Upbringing, experiences, relationships, stupid mistakes, brilliant moves, books you’ve read, people you’ve met, places you’ve been, languages you’ve learned, etc … Writers have so many tangible writing projects staring them in the face. Grab one and go for it.

Some of my characters I wholly imagine, but others are drawn from particular people, whom I have met who have, for some reason, stuck out in my mind. Remember that couple you met twenty years ago – the overbearing wife and the push-over of a husband who just couldn’t do anything right? Use them, twist them, mold them, bend them into something original, new and exciting. I’m using that specific couple for an important role in an upcoming novel. The names and situations change, but certain character traits are too salient to throw away. Use them!

Vietnam plays such a prominent place in my writing because I lived there for ten years. I can’t get away from it, nor would I want to because those experiences changed me. How have your experiences changed you? Use them in your writing. And if you aren’t a writer, use them in your life.

Much of my writing will always be influenced by the multi-cultural living I’ve experienced these last twenty years. My experiences are unique. No other author has them, so how can I use that to my advantage? I must figure out a way. It will help define me as a writer and it will help define my books for my readers.

Experience is a collection of tools in our writer’s toolbox. Use it. Trust it. Follow it.

It will improve your writing.