# Do first novels inevitably have some autobiographical content?



## Sarah50 (Apr 12, 2010)

I'm interested to what extent you think a writer inevitably (maybe subconsciously) imbues their writing with autobiographical content? I'm not suggesting that a book is entirely or even obviously autobiographical, but an author can only make use of what is in their head and varying degrees of imagination. For example the Brontes wrote about Yorkshire and usually governesses - which reflects their life experience. I don't suppose Tolkien consorted with Orcs, but he was a medievalist and his books make use of Anglo-Saxon concepts. The Frodo/ Sam relationship also reflects a master/servant relationship which would have been part of his way of life. The romance between Beren and Luthien he acknowledged to be based on his relationship with his wife Edith...etc.


----------



## Archer (Apr 25, 2009)

Hi, Sarah:

I think it's normal and natural to 'write what you know'. If one is telling a story, it's tougher to develop believable characters and situations if one has never faced a similar situation or known anyone of similar character. Many of the folks who populate my own novels, for example, are based on people I know. They might be Elves or sever-headed lizards, but their character and reactions are based on those of real people. Makes them three-dimensional and solid from the get-go. 

MANY of the details and experiences of the characters are based on my own life experiences. Why? Because I can write about them with confidence, having experienced them (or something akin to them). I know what it's like to be alone in the 'wild' for days on end because I've been there myself. I can describe a starlit desert night because I've seen it. I can relate to a character who has just ridden a hundred fast miles on a horse because I've done that. I know what it's like to have love denied, and I know what it's like to have love fulfilled. And by golly, I can ply my archer's trade in print with confidence because my walls are lined with handmade longbows and my back yard is littered with archery targets (have to test them, y'know!). 

A lot of readers have asked whether I am 'living vicariously' through any particular character. Well, yes, actually ALL of them. They live through me, not the other way around. They just have a little more creative license applied to their daily lives than I do.


----------



## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

I don't know if that's true in every case. For example, CARRIE, by Stephen King. I'm not certain King had any experience as a telikinetic teenage girl in his life. 

But I bet it's true in most cases. People relate to their own experiences better than those of others, so it seems natural to me that when they write a story it would feature bits of them in it, whether it be autobiographical or "wish fulfillment" in nature.


----------



## Maria Hooley (Jul 21, 2009)

I think most writers have autobiographical information in what they write.  I know I do, and sometimes I don't even realize it until someone points it out.  It just kind of slips in there.


----------



## Greenkeeper (Mar 16, 2010)

I think all my characters have some part of me in them. How else could I know what they are thinking?


----------



## Archer (Apr 25, 2009)

David McAfee said:


> I don't know if that's true in every case. For example, CARRIE, by Stephen King. I'm not certain King had any experience as a telikinetic teenage girl in his life.


David: Perhaps not, but I'd bet the farm that he has experience with rejection, with bullying, and with mean-spirited adolescent pranks. Such themes are frequent in his fiction, and he does them very well. The telekinesis is the way to exact revenge, and who among us hasn't wished for that?  As a fantasy writer, I am often called upon to work within my imagination, but it helps to be grounded in experience. I've never actually fought in a battle, but I am capable of choreographing one and placing my characters within it in a realistic way. It helps to understand such mundane things as the effects of terrain and weather, as well as the limitations and actions of various weapons. Definitely helps prevent eye-rolling in the reader.


----------



## J Dean (Feb 9, 2009)

I think that CAN happen, yes.  The exception being that, if you're writing a character that is not at all like you, then you need to keep your distance.  For example, the third novel I'm writing has a protagonist who is an antagonist, somebody who is not at ALL like me.  That takes deliberate thought and planning.

And it depends on what you're putting together: if the story works with parts of you in it, then do it.  If it doesn't, then don't!


----------



## altworld (Mar 11, 2010)

Nope, not unless I consorted with Angels, fought Demons and I'm being tracked by a shadowy secret society... Well, maybe the last part I have in common with my novel.

I do plan to write a semi-autobiographical novel once I get the second part of The Tether out, and play with my Air Ranger series. Going to be called The Legendary Outragous Adventures of an Englishman - think Baron Munchausen's meets Bridget Jones Diaries.


----------



## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

This is something I've been thinking about lately, how an author's first novel often has an authenticity that the author spends the rest of his life trying to recapture--think of Stephen King (Carrie), Michael Connelly (Back Echo), James Lee Burke, Patricia Highsmith.  Perhaps it is because so much of what you pour into a first novel comes not so much from your life, but from what is screaming inside of you, demanding to be said.  I disagree that "Carrie" is not autobiographical -- think of Carrie's anger at being an outsider, at not being seen or heard, and then think of Stephen King's agony at trying to get his first book published.

That said, I find all of my characters have a great deal of me in them--the African American cop, the President's wife, the psychopath--all me.


----------



## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

A few of my books are autobiographical in nature; the prologue for Turning Back The Clock is definitely in that vein, and the book I'm writing now has sports journalism ties, which I know first hand. And I would have to say that I put a little of myself into my heroic characters.


----------



## kayakruthie (Jan 28, 2010)

"And I would have to say that I put a little of myself into my heroic characters."

But not your villains?  Hmmm.


----------



## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Neverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I'm not a bad guy, I'm just drawn that way. :-D


----------



## OliviaD (Jul 21, 2009)

That would be a definite yes in my opinion since my novel deals with life in the small town where I grew up.  Of course, the novel contains more magic and more mystery than my childhood home, but every childhood should be filled with magic and I had a great imagination and the good fortune to live in the suburbs of a small town with a great swath of woods across the street when it was still relatively safe to play there.  I think that people invariably pour their own minds and thoughts into their characters because, unless they have someone helping them write for each character's thoughts, words and deeds, then where, I ask you, did that character's thoughts, words and deeds come from other than the mind of the writer.  What could be more personal than that?


----------



## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Almost every major character I have is based in some way on a friend or family member of mine. For example, Harruq is an off-shoot of myself (hence the goofy nature at times, but ability to be serious and dark natured when confronted by serious matters). His brother is a friend of mine named Ron. My brother's a mage, my wife is actually two separate characters, one scary, one bouncy happy and married to Harruq (big shock eh?). If you don't who I am, then all of this autobiographical stuff is for the most part invisible. My hope is that their actions feel real, and their personalities come across as both legit and interesting. In my not-so-humble opinion, I think I pulled that off.

But don't think for a moment Harruq is a Mary-Sue type character. I like to beat the snot out of him with other characters, and most everyone is eager to tell him he's wrong. I treat him like Charles Shulz treated Charlie Brown, in other words.

David Dalglish


----------



## alainmiles (Apr 13, 2010)

My stories tend to start with a lot of me, and the people I've known.  Most of the experiences are mine.  But then, somehow the characters take over, and create their own events and experiences, so that by the end of the book, the originals are almost unrecognizable.

I find it a bit like bringing up kids.  In the early days, all their experiences are provided by the parents.  Then they meet their own friends and start having their own adventures.  Before you know it they're adults, and leading lives of their own.  But they know and you know that there's still a little bit of you left inside them.

I wonder if other writers feel like that?


----------



## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

I believe all novels expose the author's values and experiences, and that's why writing and publishing take so much courage. Some of us hide behind fantasy or historical sets (like me), but the characters and their interactions tell who we are. It was hard for me to admit to my friends and family that I'd written a book (and I didn't for a long, long time, even after it was out on Kindle store). A couple friends have now read the books, and two have said, "wow, we didn't know you had that side to you". I felt a bit naked (I'm a reserved person), but I'm ok with it, as it's who I am, and they are still my friends.

My series is a family saga (two brothers, the women they adopt, and the secondary characters are the town folk).  I grew up in a family of nine (in a small town) so I understand birth order, it's impact on personality and aspirations, and small town/rural dynamics, and I've built all of it into my books. Some of the characters are people I've met along the way. The civil war vet is a WWI vet I knew as a child, a man with hidden talents and wisdom. Other characters are composites of several people.

Because I'm a writer I no longer read books the same way -- is that true for other writers here? I now finish a book feeling like I didn't just get a good story, but I also know the author. It can be very satisfying.


----------



## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

I always try to get as far away from myself as possible in my writing, but as the French say, _chassez le naturel, il revient au galop._ 

It's helpful (I'd say necessary) to build up as wide a range of life experience as possible, educate yourself in as many areas as will fit, and keep your mind open to everything. Writing is ultimately about ideas, not individuals.

CK


----------



## farrellclaire (Mar 5, 2010)

I always thought mine didn't, for the most part it isn't anything like me or my experiences.  I don't know if I could use my experiences in a novel and get away with it sounding believable.  

But someone told me they can hear me sometimes coming out through the characters and thinking about it one of the characters has a lot in common with someone in my family.  That wasn't intentional but obviously something of my own came through there.  I try not to write about what I know but it is a y/a novel so I can't really escape from some aspects I suppose.


----------



## J Dean (Feb 9, 2009)

You could always pull a Stephen King and become a split personality (See "The Dark Half").


----------



## sierra09 (Jun 20, 2009)

I find this topic interesting as I'm always asked what my experiances on my subject are or are my stories, characters, etc based on people that I know or have known because of the basic idea that most writers write what they know.

In my case, none of that works because I can honestly say that I know nothing of what I write. I've been writing between the paranormal and action genres and for both the only way I can cover the knowledge I need to have to make a convincing story by research. I think it would be easier to write certain scenes if the author has knowledge of it but I'd be wary of basing a character on a real person even if I could.


----------



## ReeseReed (Dec 5, 2009)

Carolyn Kephart said:


> I always try to get as far away from myself as possible in my writing, but as the French say, _chassez le naturel, il revient au galop._
> 
> It's helpful (I'd say necessary) to build up as wide a range of life experience as possible, educate yourself in as many areas as will fit, and keep your mind open to everything. Writing is ultimately about ideas, not individuals.
> 
> CK


Interesting you should say this, because just yesterday I was telling my husband that I'm in desperate need of life experience for my work. I'm struggling right now with a setting for my work, and it's because I've never been very far from my hometown for any period of time.


----------



## sierra09 (Jun 20, 2009)

I sympathize with that problem, Reese. I've never been out of the tiny rural area where I live and yet I typically base my stories in Ireland or other places...depending on the need. It's hard to give a real feel or image to places so far away.


----------



## Ricky Sides (Sep 16, 2009)

Yes.

The character Jim Wilison and I have a lot in common. Same martial arts training. Survival training. The loss of an unborn child to misscarriage. Those who have read my women's self defense book know that like Jim, I gravitated toward specializing in teaching women's self defense after visiting a female student who was hospitalized. I really had a mentor named Pete who trained me. To this day he retains the brother to my dragon dagger that I really did make by hand after receiving my master's rank.

But there are differences as well. Jim's much younger, and he is good looking.  He divorced. I didn't. He let himself get conned into becoming the captain of the peacekeeper. I wouldn't have tolerated that.

I think it's natural to fall back on our life experiences. I'm just glad I was able to do so to a degree to give the character depth. And when I write about Pete, it's my old mentor that I see in my mind. The character nails the man's behavior and much of his dialog. That's why it's so humorous to me to see some of the comments I've seen about unrealistic dialog. Pete _really was _ from Chicago too. That's why a portion of the book is set in that city.

Disclaimer: *Neither my mentor nor I have ever gone vigilante!*  But during survival training in the mid eighties, a portion of that training dealt with discussing a myriad of scenarios and what our responses should be in many given situations. Those discussions were pivotal in many scenarios depicted in the book.

Have a great day,
Ricky


----------



## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Sarah50 said:


> I don't suppose Tolkien consorted with Orcs, but he was a medievalist and his books make use of Anglo-Saxon concepts. The Frodo/ Sam relationship also reflects a master/servant relationship which would have been part of his way of life. The romance between Beren and Luthien he acknowledged to be based on his relationship with his wife Edith...etc.


Lord of the Rings has many autobiographical elements to it.

The War of the Ring is, in some ways, WW1, in which Tolkien fought. There's a lot of Tolkien in Frodo. Both had a deep love of the countryside, and a disdain of the industry that could corrupt it. Isengard is symbolic of the industry Tolkien believed was destroying the English countryside. Frodo, like Tolkien, returned damaged from war, and could never truly recover from it.

Sam was created as a homage to the hardworking Tommy, the low-rank yet earnest soldier Tolkien fought with in the war. Sam was meant to be the simple, hardworking, brave soldier who held a low rank, but served loyally. I don't think he was based on any one person in particular, rather a class of person Tolkien fought alongside.

And of course, there's a lot about language in Lord of the Rings because Professor Tolkien was a linguist.

My own first novel has no autobiographical elements in it, at least none that I'm aware of. However, it includes a lot of my thoughts about fantasy fiction, and is inspired by hundreds (even thousands) of books that I read growing up. So if those books are a part of me, maybe in that sense, there is an autobiographical element.


----------



## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

<I believe all novels expose the author's values and experiences, and that's why writing and publishing take so much courage. Some of us hide behind fantasy or historical sets (like me), but the characters and their interactions tell who we are.>

I agree with the above. So if you interpret "autobiographical" liberally to values, experiences, and attitudes, my answer is yes.


----------



## maryannaevans (Apr 10, 2010)

I almost never overtly model a character after any real person, not even me. I say "overtly" because we're pulling these people out of our subconsciouses here, folks. You can only get out what you have put in.

I start with a setting, then I ask myself "Who would live here? And what is their problem?" The story flows from there, and it rarely has much to do with me. My series character is nine years younger, smaller, physically braver, and personally tougher. She's biracial, and I wear the whitest shade of makeup that Mary Kay makes. Yet people still identify her with me, to the point where fans have introduced themselves to me and called me, "Faye." They say that they look at my author photo to get a sense of who she is and what she looks like. Even in fiction, people need to identify with something concrete.

I think characterization is like acting, in a way. It is an exercise in empathy. I was not a person of color in the South in the 1970s, but I was there, and I can imagine what it was like and how it would have made me a different person. This is how I write Faye.

After about four books of denying that Faye was me, I finally identified one aspect of her that _is_ a lot like me. She's an archaeologist and I'm an engineer, and we both approach the world logically and rationally. She _thinks_ like me. And since we're starting our seventh book together (and yes, I do know she's not real), she's become almost like an invisible friend, whispering storylines in my ear.

It is an strange and interesting thing that we novelists do...


----------

