Twenty fifth in the 1K a Day Motivational Series, in which I talk about something that happened in the previous week that could have or did prevent me from writing a minimum of 1,000 words on a given day, or possibly talk about something that provided support to get me through the day.

Today I want to comment upon the life experiences that you accrue, and how those life experiences find their way into your writing. I wrote a story last night called “Little Sister” that is not about anything that’s happened in my life, but is a culmination of a variety of things that I have seen and experienced. I take every moment of every day into myself.

Life becomes part of who I am, and who I am informs the words that I put down.

One does not create in a vacuum that which others wish to see.

A lot of times I have family and friends who ask me why I don’t just write stories around the exact things that happened that we all remember fondly, or the eccentricities of family members that make for good stories at the bar, or at family reunions.

The answer is that I am doing that. Every single thing I write comes from within, and those stories are inside my head. Maybe it’s not a one to one likeness, but all of those things inform what I write.

The embarrassing confessions of grandmothers. The things I don’t talk about myself in public. When parents fall in pools. When friends shoot themselves with BB guns. When tragedy strikes. Death, harm, sadness. When the tire blew on someone on the highway and they almost swerved into oncoming traffic. The unexpected but adorable bond between aunt and nephew. When I gave a random stranger who I am pretty sure is a tweaker a ride home from a convenience store.

Those things are life experiences: wonderful and tragic events and bonds.

Life is a beautiful, unexpected journey. To live life is amazing, and to recreate life in myriad new ways is also amazing. I can share with you my life without giving you all the gory details through storytelling. Through my life I can tell stories, and through stories you can come to know me.

So get out there and live life, take in those new experiences, and always remember to write the hell on.