Writing from Biography: Approaches to Using Personal Experience in Fiction

The phrase "write what you know" has been uttered and dispensed as advice in thousands of writing classes–but what does it actually mean? Are fiction writers intended merely to translate the 'authenticity' of their lived experience on the page? How can writers effectively combine personal inspiration with invention? While the coinage of the term 'autofiction' as a genre has continued to blur the lines between 'fiction' and 'nonfiction,' most writers are, in some way, pulling from their lives. The impulse to invoke or even collapse personal biography into (auto)fictional narrative has presented many writers with opportunities for creative innovation; however, in the contemporary publishing landscape, many fiction writers have also reported feeling discouraged from writing characters who are different from them, with writers from marginalized backgrounds especially facing pressure to properly 'represent' their identity on the page. The pressure to limit writing to the scope of personal experience has often stymied, rather than inspired, writers at all points of their careers.

Sophia Kwon, Yegene Lee, and Jungin Angie Lee will provide an outlet for navigating these pressures and provide inspiration and opportunities for beginning writers by discussing the rise of autofiction, as well as alternative methods of alchemizing autobiography into a compelling fictional narrative. Through discussion about the intersections of fiction and nonfiction and generative writing, participants will gain insight on how to approach or avoid pulling from their own lives in their creative process. 

Class meets in person Saturday, October 3, 1 – 3 pm.

Class size: Minimum 5, maximum 15.

Member discount: Members of Write On receive a 10% discount on all classes and workshops. To become a member, please click here. To receive the discount, members must log in to the website using their unique password and enter member10 in the promotion code box. The code is case sensitive.

Sofia Margaret Kwon is a writer and recent graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Provost’s Office Fellow and the fiction editor for The Iowa Review. Her work can be found in Quarto Magazine. Based in New York, she is currently at work on a novel.

Yegene Lee is from Los Angeles, California. She was a President’s Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she received her MFA in 2025. She is at work on her first story collection.

Jungin Angie Lee is a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she earned an MFA in fiction. Her writing has been supported by the University of Iowa, Vermont Studio Center, Ragdale Foundation, Tin House Summer Workshop, Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, and elsewhere.