--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would say my life experiences are my…" description: "\"I would say my life experiences are my poetry, whether I'm writing about those actual, factual experiences or not.\" — Dorianne Laux" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf0/dorianne-laux-12252_factual_i-would-say-my-life-experiences-are-my-p_193705.png" --- # I would say my life experiences are my poetry, whether I'm… ![“I would say my life experiences are my poetry, whether I'm writing about those actual, factual experiences or not.” quote by Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf0/dorianne-laux-12252_factual_i-would-say-my-life-experiences-are-my-p_193705.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf0/dorianne-laux-12252_factual_i-would-say-my-life-experiences-are-my-p_193705.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf0/dorianne-laux-12252_factual_i-would-say-my-life-experiences-are-my-p_193705.png) > “I would say my life experiences are my poetry, whether I'm writing about those actual, factual experiences or not.” [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life experiences become poetry, whether factual or imagined. **In simple terms:** Experiences turn into verse. Key Takeaway Write from lived moments. Themes creativity life poetry experience Mood introspective artistic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - therapy - storytelling - teaching Key Concepts autobiographical writing imagination Questions to Reflect On - How does personal history fuel art? - When to blend fact and fiction? A Different Perspective Fictionalizing may blur truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-experience/) [Life experiences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-experiences/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I'm very interested in writing an actual series, that doesn't have too much to do with my music - a world I create that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-m-very-interested-in-writing-an-actual-series-that-doesn-t-have-too/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [Parents, it seems, have an almost Olympian persistence when it comes to suggesting more secure and lucrative lines of work for their children who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/parents-it-seems-have-an-almost-olympian-persistence-when-it-comes-to/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [I spend a huge amount of time writing about the book instead of writing the actual text.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pavone/i-spend-a-huge-amount-of-time-writing-about-the-book-instead-of/) [Chris Pavone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pavone/) > [Be ruthless about protecting writing days…althoug h writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/be-ruthless-about-protecting-writing-days-althoug-h-writing-has-been/) [J. 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I mean my poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maccaig/i-never-think-about-poetry-except-when-i-m-writing-it-i-mean-my-poetry/) [Norman MacCaig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maccaig/) > [“I think poor poetry writing skills are excused when you’re simply trying to flush out emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-kiesler/i-think-poor-poetry-writing-skills-are-excused-when-you-re-simply/) [Katie Kiesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-kiesler/) > [I don't think there's any essential difference, at least for me, between writing poetry and writing prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-essential-difference-at-least-for-me/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“This is poetry. 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So that all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-has-praise-and-fame-to-do-with-poetry-was-not-writing-poetry-a-2/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [When I devoted myself to poetry - and poetry is a very serious medium - I don't think the people that knew me as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-castillo/when-i-devoted-myself-to-poetry-and-poetry-is-a-very-serious-medium-i/) [Ana Castillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-castillo/) > [“With poetry and writing, the question isn’t “do you know the right words?”. The real question is, “can you make words from the unwordable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-nordby/with-poetry-and-writing-the-question-isn-t-do-you-know-the-right/) [Jacob Nordby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-nordby/) > [I was writing since I can remember - I just didn't know it was poetry yet, or that writing could be a career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-gorman/i-was-writing-since-i-can-remember-i-just-didn-t-know-it-was-poetry/) [Amanda Gorman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-gorman/) ## More by Dorianne Laux > [We aren't suggesting that mental instability or unhappiness makes one a better poet, or a poet at all; and contrary to the romantic notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/we-aren-t-suggesting-that-mental-instability-or-unhappiness-makes-one/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [“How many losses does it take to stop a heart, to lay waste to the vocabularies of desire?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/how-many-losses-does-it-take-to-stop-a-heart-to-lay-waste-to-the/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [And I saw it didn't matter who had loved me or who I loved. I was alone. The black oily asphalt, the slick beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/and-i-saw-it-didn-t-matter-who-had-loved-me-or-who-i-loved-i-was/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [The reason I started writing was because I was a little kid in San Diego who was getting beaten up by her dad and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/the-reason-i-started-writing-was-because-i-was-a-little-kid-in-san/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [Good writing works from a simple premise: your experience is not yours alone, but in some sense a metaphor for everyone's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/good-writing-works-from-a-simple-premise-your-experience-is-not-yours/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [Every poem I write falls short in some important way. But I go on trying to write the one that won’t.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/every-poem-i-write-falls-short-in-some-important-way-but-i-go-on/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [We're all writing out of a wound, and that's where our song comes from. The wound is singing. We're singing back to those who've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/we-re-all-writing-out-of-a-wound-and-that-s-where-our-song-comes-from/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [You are not your poetry. Your self-esteem shouldn't depend on whether you publish, or whether some editor or writer you admire thinks you're any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/you-are-not-your-poetry-your-self-esteem-shouldn-t-depend-on-whether/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [Someone spoke to me last night, told me the truth. Just a few words, but I recognized it. I knew I should make myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/someone-spoke-to-me-last-night-told-me-the-truth-just-a-few-words-but/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [ It's difficult to talk about \[W.S.\] Merwin's poems, as it's hard to talk about a feeling or a smell. It is what it is,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/it-s-difficult-to-talk-about-w-s-merwin-s-poems-as-it-s-hard-to-talk/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [We continue to speak, if only in whispers, to something inside us that longs to be named.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/we-continue-to-speak-if-only-in-whispers-to-something-inside-us-that/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [W.S Merwin says "after three days of rain" and I write "After Twelve Days of Rain." I like his quietude. I admire his ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/w-s-merwin-says-after-three-days-of-rain-and-i-write-after-twelve/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [If you want to be a writer in the world you really have to sit down and say, 'Why do I want to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/if-you-want-to-be-a-writer-in-the-world-you-really-have-to-sit-down/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [Who you are contributes to your poetry in a number of important ways, but you shouldn't identify with your poems so closely that when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/who-you-are-contributes-to-your-poetry-in-a-number-of-important-ways/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [I love people and psychology. As a writer, I’m not so interested in Fred getting from the living room to the car. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/i-love-people-and-psychology-as-a-writer-i-m-not-so-interested-in/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) [Explore all 55 Dorianne Laux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) ## More Factual quotes > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) > [For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/for-fantasy-is-true-of-course-it-isn-t-factual-but-it-is-true/) [Ursula K. 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Like art, it is a universal possession of humanity, and scientific knowledge has become a vital part of our species'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/science-is-not-marginal-like-art-it-is-a-universal-possession-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [... in a capitalist society a man is expected to be an aggressive, uncompromising, factual, lusty, intelligent provider of goods,and the woman, a retiring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/in-a-capitalist-society-a-man-is-expected-to-be-an-aggressive/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [The propositions of mathematics are devoid of all factual content; they convey no information whatever on any empirical subject matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-gustav-hempel/the-propositions-of-mathematics-are-devoid-of-all-factual-content/) [Carl Gustav Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-gustav-hempel/) > [“Advocacy groups in the USA, as in other countries, may not be able to silence this hateful, cowardly and deceitful attack upon people’s humanity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/advocacy-groups-in-the-usa-as-in-other-countries-may-not-be-able-to/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [A popular feel for scientific endeavors should, if possible, be restored given the needs of the twenty-first century. 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