For the past few days, I have been serving as a Student Leader for a free, week-long, online writing program known as the Young Writer Challenge. In this community, there is a space where students can ask questions about writing. I recently read one that I will paraphrase to this: How can I write intense scenes when I haven’t gone through anything the characters are experiencing?
Immediately, I thought of Tolkien. His writing features hiking up the side of a volcano and battling giant spiders, both of which I am sure he had never done. So, why was he able to write such intense, masterful scenes when he had not truly gone through those experiences?
I think that the answer is that he knew how to draw from life to make his stories realistic. No, he didn’t hike up a volcano, but yes, he did lose his father at a very young age. He could later use those swirling emotions of grief and dread to portray what Frodo and Sam were feeling on their trek. No, he didn’t attack giant spiders with swords, but yes, he did get bitten by a spider as a child. He could then later use those feelings of terror and fear to realistically make the scene.
God, the ultimate Author, is writing your story, and He’s given you many chapters of your own life that you can draw from. Each breath, each heartbeat is a gift, a word to add on to your book.
Oh, I love this idea! Thank you for the reminder, as it's easy to forget that life, in of itself, is writing experience. :)