Yes, I also exploit my experiences for my writing. I think all writers do–at least the ones that are worth reading. I think if writing doesn’t have some basis in personal experience and passion, it has no value whatsoever. In other words (pun intended, lol), if a writer doesn’t have some personal interest in the subject, which is based in their experience in some way, then why would he or she care about it and, by extension, why would the reader care about it? I think writing can give purpose to a writer’s life because we are mining our life for value. Though, I think what your concern is is that we are not active participants in the experiences we are living because we are only hoping to capture them in words later on–but I think that in itself is just another way of living. My life is much richer because I am at once participant and observer in my life as a result of being a writer.

Thanks for letting me ramble. You brought up some interesting points to consider.

I am driven to come up with my most creative ideas for art and writing projects by the manic component of bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, what goes up must come down. I haven’t figured out how to channel that, yet.

You make a good point with your article.

I have to share a computer with 2 teenage girls and a husband. They all hate it when I get an idea and I have to write it down before I forget.

So yes, I agree- I reckon you have to be a little bit of a nutjob to write something that truly stands out

The culmination of my writing at the moment is on Megalomania, the raw ambition that man can be confounded with. Historically, megalomaniacs have been branded insane. But is ambition not the very thing that makes us human, the thing that sets us apart from primates? Is insanity an inability to suppress very human emotions in some cases? Maybe writers are more normal than the rest of mankind Or maybe I’m babbling…

Greetings in California from Scotland! hehe