A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a traditional part of the holiday season. And it almost didn’t come into being.
Dickens was struggling for inspiration after three publishing “flops” followed the success of his first novel, Oliver Twist. In 1843, he self-financed A Christmas Carol and saved his career as a novelist.
What was the inspiration behind Dickens’ most beloved and influential stories? His own life.
At 12 years of age, his father had been sent to a debtor’s prison. Dickens ended up in a dilapidated factory along the River Thames. For a meager wage, he labelled pots of “blacking,” a substance used in fireplaces. Even though he paved his way from labour into journalism, his horrible experience shaped him for the rest of his life. His memories and the social disparity of London formed the bedrock theme of many of his stories.
Every Life Is A Story To Be Told.
If you’re struggling for inspiration for your novel, you have no further to look than your own life.
Readers identify with characters who face the same hurdles in life as they do. Write a protagonist with qualities that evoke empathy in situations that create conflict or peril. No one wants to read about perfection.
Consider issues that have affected you. Racism? Bullying? Poverty? Struggling to make ends meet? Overcoming odds? Difficult relationships?
What is the number one thing you wished was different about your life, and why?
Use the most challenging things that have happened to you as the building blocks for your characters and plots. Write what you feel.
Every Life Has Experience To Share
Life experience also provides inspiration for non-fiction books. Irma S. Rombauer printed her first copy of The Joy of Cooking in 1931 after her husband’s death. Rombauer was a homemaker who self-published the book as a new income venture. Since then, The Joy of Cooking sold more than 18 million copies and is never out of print.
What do people want to pick your brain about? Your life experience is different from everyone else’s. Consider how your niche expertise compares to what’s already available. How do you make your invaluable knowledge stand out?
More people need your content than you realize.
When authors write what they know, they’re really writing what they feel and about their lived experience. That kind of inspiration only comes from within.