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Mining Your Past: Turning Personal Experiences into Compelling Fiction: Part 2

By georgelthomas on 8 Jul 2025 • ( 0 )

Mining Your Past: Turning Personal Experiences into Compelling Fiction: Part 2

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today I’m continuing my exploration of using your life and experiences as inspiration for your fiction. So, let’s continue by delving a little deeper.

Mining Your Past: Turning Personal Experiences into Compelling Fiction: Part 2

Authenticity matters in fiction; even in fantastical worlds or high-stakes thrillers, readers want to connect to genuine emotions and experiences. And who knows those feelings better than you do?

Mining your own life for story ideas does two powerful things:

It gives your writing emotional depth that readers will relate to.
It creates unique narratives only you can tell.

The writer Anne Lamott once said, “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” And while, as I said in my previous post, you don’t need to include every detail from your life in your story (some things are best left unshared), even the simplest memory can spark a groundbreaking idea.

Five Questions to Start Mining Your Experiences

If you’re staring at a blank page right now, I get it—where do you even begin? Here are five questions to kick-start your creative process:

1 What’s a moment in your life that changed you?
Think about pivotal experiences, big or small. Perhaps you moved to a new city, experienced a heartbreak, or even an awkward interview.

2 Is there a story your family always tells about you?
Families love retelling particular stories. What’s one you could reimagine? Maybe the stressful family road trip becomes a comedic disaster in your story.

3 What scared you as a child?
Childhood fears are potent storytelling fodder. They’re universal yet deeply personal—perfect for creating relatable characters.

4 Who’s someone you’ll never forget?
A mentor? A nemesis? An unlikely friend? These people can inspire nuanced characters.

5 What’s a place that felt like another world?
Maybe it was your grandmother’s kitchen, full of smells and half-formed memories, or a bustling train station during a tense moment. These settings can ground your story while adding atmosphere.

If something jumps out, take a few moments to jot down some quick answers, and you’ll see you’re already building up a treasure trove of ideas.

Building Fictional Characters From Real People

Characters are at the beating heart of every great story. While some writers prefer to conjure their characters entirely from scratch, there’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from people you know (but don’t make it too obvious). Here’s how:

Focus on Specific Traits
Rather than replicating someone wholesale, pick one unique characteristic—like their odd laugh, relentless optimism, or love for trivia—and use it to inform a fictional character.
Combine Personalities
Blend traits from multiple people for a more nuanced character. For example, create a character with your aunt’s confidence but your own quirky sense of humour.
Ask Yourself What They’re Hiding
Real people are layered, and compelling characters should be, too. Think about the motivations, secrets, or vulnerabilities beneath the surface. Did your sociology professor seem hyper-organized but was secretly lonely? That complexity sticks in readers’ minds.

Setting the Scene With Lived-In Details

A big part of your world-building can come from places you’ve lived, travelled to, or dreamed about. You already know what they look, sound, and smell like—so use that personal sensory knowledge to bring fictional settings to life.

For instance:

That cramped flat you lived in during university? Turn it into the backdrop for your protagonist’s financial struggles.
The isolated hiking trail you once got lost on? Transform it into a key turning point in your thriller.
The local café where everyone knows you? Drop it into your story as a hub of gossip and connection.

Readers can sense authenticity in descriptive details—and every creaking floorboard or half-finished crossword puzzle brings your setting alive.

Remember, the best stories are often the ones that challenge us, the ones that ask us to confront what we know and feel. By mining your past, you’ll find those treasures buried deep inside, ready to drive stories that will entertain and resonate with others.

Thank you, as ever, for stopping by!

Until next time,

George