Weekly Writer’s Quote: Thoughts on a Perfectly Happy Childhood

"Those of us who had a perfectly happy childhood should be able to sue for deprivation of literary royalties." ~ Chris Patten

I am not convinced there is such a thing as a “perfectly happy childhood”, any more then I am convinced that a “perfectly” unhappy childhood exists. Life and growing up is a combination of events that lead to happiness and unhappiness.

Happiness depends on an individual’s definition of the word. It depends upon the individual’s perception of an event occurring in one life. A person or writer can be happy despite the occurrences in his or her life. Unhappiness works the same way.

Whatever events occurred in a writer’s childhood, whether those events led to happiness or unhappiness, the author needs to attempt to incorporate then into his or her works. It does not matter whether the person is writing slices of life, romance, science fiction or fantasy, these the events and emotions give depth to the stories, novel, and poems. Even when the reader does not realize that, the writer is basing some of the items on his or her experiences.