I’ve recently been thinking about how the illustrations, comics, and novels a person creates do not always reflect their inner self. People often say that your feelings naturally appear in your work, but while being active online, I have come to feel that this is not always the case.
For example, many works submitted to major Japanese manga magazines feature protagonists who are children without parents. At the same time, many creators themselves grew up in stable and supportive environments. I find it interesting to think about why certain themes appear so frequently in storytelling, even when they are not based on the creator’s own life.
I also noticed another interesting example: a song that recently became popular in Japan, about how difficult working life can be, was written by someone who had not personally experienced that situation at the time. Moments like this make me feel that sometimes people are able to portray struggles precisely because they are imagining them from the outside.
Personally, although I try to stay positive, I have gone through many painful experiences over the years, and because of that, I sometimes find it difficult to create very cruel or tragic stories. This has made me reflect even more on how different creators approach storytelling in different ways.
Of course, I believe creators can write about any kind of experience, whether or not they have lived it themselves. I’m simply curious about the many different paths that lead people to create the stories they tell.
Again, of course, whether or not someone has had a particular experience, it is always the creator’s freedom to write whatever they want to create.
I simply feel that, in many cases, a creator’s inner self and their work are not always the same.
I’m curious how other creators feel about this topic.
