Gotta Write

I’ve been thinking a lot about life experiences and how they can help a writer become more creative.  I’m not saying that you should force yourself to do things that terrify you in the name of your art, but I think that maybe once in a while you should try something you wouldn’t normally try in order to get a new perspective on things.

When I was younger I joined the military.  It wasn’t like it was my life plan and it wasn’t like I grew up around a military base.  It was more like having a hot Army boyfriend and thinking to myself, “Well, that sounds like fun.”  My boyfriend at the time - a very nice fellow indeed - insisted that if I was going to join any branch of the military it darn well better be the Air Force. 

What did the Air Force get me besides an education and four years of steady employment? Experiences.  I’ve done push-ups with a madman screaming over me and I’ve cuddled with an orphan in a Haitian orphanage.  I’ve climbed into the pyramids of Egypt and had the most romantic kiss ever while standing under a Russian helicopter with Sweet Home Alabama playing in the background…it was funny because it was at a Canadian military camp.  I know how to say “Where is the bathroom?” in Turkish and can say, “I don’t have any chocolate” in French.

In other words, I’ve lived, lived, lived.  I doubt I would have done all these things if I hadn’t one day shrugged and said, “Air Force? Sure, why not?”

Did I stay in the military? Heck no.  I did my four years and skedaddled.  The point is that I constantly pull from the experiences I’ve had in life and use them in the stories I write.  Face it, writers.  We can’t live a mundane life and hope to have intriguing stories dancing around in our heads all the time.