Life Can Make You a Better Writer

I spent the summer organizing, cleaning, playing with my family, and taking a break from writing. We visited ghost towns, rode motorcycles & four wheelers, went camping, and spent a day at Lagoon. While we were hiking through the ruins of the ghost town Standardville, I thought it would make an awesome scene in some adventure book I would like to write, which then reminded me of my first published novel, Deadly Treasure, and the summer-time adventure it entails.

Recently I read through the portion of that book where my main character ends up trapped in a dark cave with no apparent escape. The darkness, being lost, praying and pleading for help, and even knowing that our prayers are heard and that we are supported by others, even "angels", was a reminder to me that while we may experience dark times, there is almost always a light at the end of the tunnel, and there is always heavenly help. For me, this scene was shaped by the pain I experienced with health issues a few years ago.

When I write, my own life experiences tend to bleed into and shape my characters. I've found that my characters can attain some pretty amazing character growth when I know first hand what it's like to achieve it and experience it myself. I've found that when I'm in touch with my own feelings and emotions, I'm so much more able to express those qualities on paper in the lives of the characters I create. And like-wise, when my characters are brave and strong when they need to be, or when they make mistakes and feel badly about them, they teach me some valuable life lessons.

How do you influence your own writing, and how does your writing influence you?