Painful Memories - Writing From What You Know

[CallMeKada]

I put a lot of mental and emotional separation from parents and guardians in my stories*. I definitely know that. On the flip side, when they're not distant, they're the ideal parent/child: perfect acceptance, perfect trust, etc. Wishful thinking, I suppose?

Also, not having enough to eat and hoarding food. Or having the heat set too cold in winter and the AC set too hot in summer, just to save money, when there was enough to at least make it more comfortable without breaking the bank. Hunger, physical discomfort, and generally not having enough money come up a lot in my writing. Probably more than they should. Especially the food hangups.

*More than the usual teen "They wouldn't understand!" bull. I mean like, an eight year old (or younger...) knowing not to trust the parents with anything. Thank God for siblings 7 & 8.5 years older than the baby, I s'pose.  

[Lyvidian]

I have a lot of parental detachment in my stories. Even when I have a character that's for the most part a goody-goody there's usually some type of resentment toward the parents (usually more toward the mom). I can't think of a single character that has a good relationship with their parents...  

[Giyari]

I'm not too sure, I don't tend to let my feelings out XD
So yeah, not for me  

[Lydia Blue]

I pretty much had a fantastic childhood. I think I have a bit of an issue with my Dad, because a number of my characters have Daddy issues.
Also, when I was a kid, books were more important to me than people. I'm not sure if this has really affected my writing other than the obvious, but there ya go.
The Daddy issues thing was entirely unconcious. I've only realized it recently.  

[FoxyNightPrincess]

my characters never have a good relationship with their fathers. i can't even write a story with a good father character. they're either non-existent or the characters just don't like their fathers much.

yeah i have daddy issues lol. he was just never there much when we were kids and then when my parents got divorced he was a terrible father nothing was ever good enough for him he never hit me or anything it was just the mental abuse i couldn't stand. and now he isn't even in my life.  

[VenusRain]

My characters are never exactly stable, and very, very, very few are entirely sane. In addition to that, most of them have poor to nonexistant social skills, even if they actually want to be around people, aaaannd I seem to have difficulty writing characters which don't have a Tragic PastTM of some sort.

On a lighter note, only two of my characters seem to have picked up my intense paranoia and multitude of phobias behind you. c:

EDIT: Since you guys don't know me super well, it might help to know that I smile. A lot. Even when most people wouldn't.

This is what a combination of bullying and nuerological issues does to you.  

[Millenium Joker]

For the sake of the reader (and my fatigue...... so tired......) I won't pot what I have in mind, but they're s collection of about 3 stories/essays I wrote a while back, all about s**t that's gone down in my life.  

[Spellbound Blasphemy]

It's the story of my life.

My characters tend to be separated from the main social groups in whatever place they tend to be in most. I was a Gifted and Talented pullout kid, and that means that everyone knew I was the really, really smart girl. I still am, and although I've found my social niche, my group of close friends is very small.
It's not that I regret having my intelligence; I think it's a blessing. But I still write about what I know...
Anyway (I was going off-topic, wasn't I?), my characters tend to be detached from their fathers. I never knew my dad, because my parents never married, so you could say that I'm detached to my dad. Very detached.
Also, I've noticed that in my storylines lately, the characters are detaching from their mothers as well, and I suspect that this has something to do with the fact that I'm a teenager and I'm not as close to my mom as I used to be.
Art mimics life, I suppose.

I know who would want to take me home...
--Semisonic,
Closing Time

 

[All Purpose Muling Device]

I've noticed that emotional abuse is working its way more and more into what I write.

It pisses me off.  

[Feline Anachronism]

Most of my writing tends to revolve around poverty, substance abuse, and mental illness. Very rarely do parents make it into a story at all, and if they do, they are not typically shown in the best light.

I've also noticed receintly that nearly all of my main characters smoke and drink, usually heavily.  

[velvetsophisticate]

I usually find myself writing my characters to have some crazy insecurities, like body-issues, rejection-fueled depression, and constant lonlieness. Also, lately I've noticed my characters have one or more parents struggling with a drug addiction. Possibly due to my own experiences...?

It always pisses me off, too, because I'd LIKE to step out of the box that confines me to these flaws.

 

[pythonesque]

I find myself writing about depression, self-injury, self-esteem, need for acceptance, death, withdraw, loneliness, addiction,...

Some of them are things I've gone through. Some are things I've been exposed to a lot.  

[IchigoRomance]

I tend to write about characters much like myself. Even though I never mean to. I can never keep a character serious and distant because that's my life. I used to be serious and distant but I got over it. Something in me changed and the same happeneds to my characters. I tend to have my female characters experience some kind of sexual trama because I've been there. Basically, Rape,molestation,post tramatic stress, sticky situations, bad break ups, and so on and so on. Alot of me and my life is in my writing. And I wouldn't have it any other way. As a writer your writing needs to have a part of you everytime.