As I practice writing, I learn about the writing craft, I build skills in the writing craft, but I also learn other things because I do research to support what I’m writing. For the story I’m currently writing, I researched childhood trauma.
The two main characters suffered childhood traumas. That trauma drives the attitude and behavior of the point-of-view character. She suffered her trauma years ago and is now an adult. The other character is a child who recently suffered her trauma. It is easier for me to write the adult than to write the child probably because I can relate to how an adult who suffered trauma as a child might deal with it as an adult. I can’t do that for the child. Thus, I researched childhood trauma to gain an understanding of how a child reacts to trauma.
I learned many things from my research and I now have a better idea of how to write the child, but I also learned about me. While I did not suffer childhood trauma as severe as what some people have, there were things that left their mark on me. I now understand myself better and I understand why I can write the adult. However, even with this new understanding, I still have my childhood trauma scars. In part, those scars make me who I am.
The more I write, the more I learn, and sometimes what I learn is about me.