Writing Tips

The Writer's Influence

This doesn't necessarily mean that the writer that wrote it is materialistic, but there is a little dream in there that calls: "I want to be spoiled, and never again lack anything" and that wish manifests in scenes like this.

I think part of it may originate from high number of housewives, that can't really spoil themselves with the money the husband earns, at least not without feeling guilty, so they hope to be spoiled. This is of course just an assumption, but it's an exercise in understanding others choices and point of view, and see how our own hopes affect the stories we make.

Your life situation:
As much as I am not a fan of the lazy main character, that has no energy for anything and just dallies about, the character type is there for a reason, and you actually do see it in the beginnings of those stories.

They are burned out.

Life is hard, and when you hit that low, imagining being happy can seem distant and vague. The closest thing, is dreaming of relaxing and recharging energy.

I often find that characters like this, however, never stop wanting to relax. They, like the author, often don't actually regain the energy you'd expect of a normal refreshed person.

As authors we can very easily put our own energy level into our characters, and it can affect both plot and feel of the story.

If we can't fight our everyday, then sometimes we lower the difficulty of our characters as well.

This also means, that if you're a mother, then you're more likely to write a story from the perspective of a parent.

Culture:
If you only read or write your own culture's stories, then you probably won't notice as much, but there can be massive culture shocks in stories as well. Of course, something as simple as 'no rise' can be a big thing to some, but I find that the parts about family, create a bigger contrast, because they can be understood so differently.

Take for example a young kid. Make them do a curse word at their mother. The mother than smacks her kid with a sandal.

Now, in some cultures this is expected. The kid did something respectless, and was punished. In others, this is child abuse that will get protective services called and the kid moved to a foster home.

Now imagine people reading your story, with a scenario like this in it. The situation will be received wildly different, depending on the reader, despite you thinking of it in one specific way.

Being aware that this can happen, will help you set a situation up a bit more clearly as well, so you can adjust the scene to make it make sense for everyone reading your story.

Your writing and speaking style:
Yes, this too.

Are you, like me, prone to using long sentences? Maybe a hint of purple prose?

Both your writing style, and the way that you yourself speak, ends up having an effect on the voice of your characters. If you're prone to using metaphores and simili, then often, your character will too.

If you're used to using slang, then your characters often will too, unless you make a concious effort to avoid it.

This can also mean a very elegant(supposedly) character ends up cursing like a sailor, or sounding like a street kid, instead of what was envisioned, or opposite, that a very simple and blunt character ends up making very long and complicated sentences that doesn't suit their characters.