Current Events

I keep them in mind, and sometimes in current events, scientific findings, etc. I find some nuggets of story/character ideas as well. I don't necessarily write to topics, but I think keeping in touch with the world helps with my writing.

Of course, mileage may vary. Some writers are known to be recluses who might not even know the Berlin Wall already fell...

I always like this story - P.G. Wodehouse was living in Brittany when World War II broke out. He considered it a "minor and local squabble." He considered it to be a "minor and local squabble" right up until the Germans marched into France, took him prisoner, and made him release propaganda against the Americans (not the British, actually), which would prevent his knighthood until he was eighty or so.

Birol said:

How well do you think creative writers should stay on top of current events? Is real life news important to you when creating fiction?

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I think it's only important if your story is based upon real life events. Otherwise, it's a "Free-For-All".

Whether it's important to me or not? My stories are based a little bit on history not so much on current events. But I still keep up with the news. You never know where your next idea will come from.

I think it's important to an extent.

I don't think a writer needs to delve into current events that deeply - unless of course they're writing timely material like a thriller or something along those lines where a good working knowledge of current events would probably be necessary.

But, even if writing fantasy or a memoir or historical fiction, I still think it's a good idea for a writer to at least be aware of what's going on in the world today.

One of the key elements to being a good writer and writing a compelling story, I feel, is an understanding of human nature.

In order to do this you must observe the world around you and it's participants, which would naturally include current events.

Also, I think a good knowledge of current events and the world around you helps you make your work more accessible to larger volumes of people by allowing you to be able to find more points of connection, so to speak, with your reader.

It's all about getting your reader to identify and become involved in your story and I think knowing and being aware of certain parallel events in the real world today can help you to find the words to get your reader to see and feel the similar events in your fictional world.

I don't think it's necessarily all that important. As with everything, people are drawn to different things. If I'm writing about a woman lost in the woods, I don't need to know diddly about the war in Iraq. OTOH, if I'm writing about a woman who gets lost in the Middle East in 2007, yeah, I better know a fair amount about current events. I think it helps if fiction writers have a decent idea about the world around them, but I don't think it's a prerequisite for good writing.

Events

Of course current events are important in most kinds of fiction. If you're writing a story set in today's world, it's going to be a pretty silly story unless it reflects today's world.

I don't, however, think this is much of an issue with selling writers. They're usually more up to date on current events than any other segment of the population outside of journalists and politicians.

Perhaps the biggest oxymoron possible would be "a writer who doesn't stay abreast of current events."

Most people I know who aren't well aware of current events tend not to be well aware of past events, either, and if they write things, it often shows.

caw

I think it is just another way of taking in information about the world around you that you are not experiencing first-hand. Sometimes it provides inspiration. I wrote a rather good short story based on a picture in the New York Times that apparently spoke to me on some deeper level than just a photograph.

I m convinced that the more you know, the more you can imagine. Plus there are people doing things on the news that I wouldn't want people I associate with to be doing, but they make interesting characters. I don't personally know any lying thieving politicians, but I've seen and read enough about them that I bet I could write one as a convincing character.

I keep informed, but I try not to write things that are obviously "RIPPED FROM THE PAGES OF TODAY'S HEADLINES!!!" That's always smacked of exploitation to me - you hear some awful story on the news and so help me, two weeks later, some version of Law And Order is doing an episode on it. Sheesh. It's bad enough that it happened in real life; what's the point in doing a fictional rendition of it, too?

(Apologies to all the L&O fans - I think I'm the only person I know who isn't a huge fan of the show. )

I think it's only important insofar as it contributes to the creative compost pile that writers keep. In my mind, creativity is the ability to make new and unexpected connections between things, so the more things you have access to, the more creativity can result.

I think it is pertinent to keep up with events so as to be a well-rounded person. It makes you a better conversationalist, increases your depth of knowledge etc. An educated, well rounded and knowledgeable person usually becomes a well rounded, knowledgeable writer. Build experience, build life, build your own character and it will show within the characters that you create.

I try to keep up with current events, but I don't obsess over them and spend hours a day watching the news, reading papers, and pouring over Newsweek. I don't have the time, and frankly, the news just depresses me. But I like to be able to give an answer when someone comes up to me and says, "Hey, what do you think about___?"

Current events don't often play into my writing, because I tend to live in the realms of SF and the paranormal.

I keep up with current events because they reflect the culture from which I write. I don't obsess, I just try to stay informed. I want to know what strangers are talking about when I eavesdrop at Starbuck's, looking for my next character.