Can You Trust A Writer?

They say that writers and poets observe life more intensely than ‘normal’ people. Well I’m no poet, and I’m certainly not normal, but I guess it’s true that I do mentally store away more little observations than most. Everything interesting that I notice in the pub, while waiting in line at the supermarket or driving on the motorway, it all gets file away in the back of my mind.

Much of this stuff resurfaces later in my writing. Sure, I change things around and fictionalise events but scratch deeply enough and you’ll find the seed of truth in there. A lot of scenarios that I place my characters in are taken from my own life – they’re the strongest experiences that I have to draw upon – but others are taken from things that I see. And as I see my friends and family more than I see total strangers then it stands to reason that their experiences are used more than most.

For example a friend who felt that her day wasn’t complete without at least an hour’s exercise was written into a tale of addiction. What would she have thought if she’d been able to recognise herself as the inspiration behind my character? She’s a lovely woman but the person that she became in the story was less than nice, as he lost his job, home and wife to his obsession.

I have many other examples but, as some of my sources may read this, I’ll not be giving them away.

It works the other way around too. On reading my work some people have asked, “Is that supposed to be me?”  No, it’s supposed to be a believable character in a short story, but it’s interesting that sometimes people see links where there were none intended.

So today’s question to you is – how would you feel if you recognised yourself in my writing?

©  Shaun Finnie 2011