To be a success, one of the most important things a writer can do is make their plots believable and their characters relatable, and this comes through writing from experience. It's certainly not the case that writers can only reproduce things that have happened directly to them (we'd have to scrap science fiction and fantasy for a start), but the ideas need to come from somewhere real, leading them to search for the real-world inspiration mentioned earlier. This experience all adds up, making each writer an amalgamation of them and all of their characters. And not only does it give them emotional experience, but also a wide knowledge of the real world. Each written creation takes quite a bit of research, whether this manifests as endless browsing of Wikipedia, or trying every restaurant in town, so a writer will always have something to recommend. There's no denying that dating a writer will be an educational experience: they'll have the best book recommendations, know enough useless trivia to write their own pub quiz books, and if nothing else then at least you'll end up with a more voluminous vocabulary. And if it only makes you feel overwhelmed, then...
I'm a British filmmaker (or, at least, trying to be) and about to graduate with a Film Studies degree. Most of the time I should spend working is actually on Netflix so I obviously have loads of life experience to share with you lovely people.
