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{{examples}}
== Literature ==
* In the eighth volume of the ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' novel series, the author wrote about writing, at some point the titular character states that "anyone can write" and she does in fact recruit almost everyone she knows to write for her literature magazine, while each of the characters ends up writing about a subject they do actually know about, only the ones who have the reading habit write something at least interesting, everyone else just throw random words together (and the ones who read the magazine does realize this).
== Real Life ==
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** In a similar vein but much less famous, or controversial, RAF Tornado pilot John Nichol co-wrote two non-fiction books about his Gulf War experiences with navigator/WSO John Peters before embarking upon a solo career as a writer of thrillers whose protagonist is invariably a male RAF pilot... who [[Wish Fulfillment|always has it off with a beautiful woman before the end of the story,]] but he's good enough that nobody really minds.
* Forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs writes the original novels, ''Bones'' (later used to create [[Bones]]). Two guesses what Temperance "Bones" Brennan does for a living.
* ''[[Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade]]'' was
* Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, the creator of the ''[[Chalet School]]'' series, was a teacher herself. She actually tried to start up her own school (in Hereford, which became one of the Chalet School's locations), although unlike its fictional equivalent, the school was unsuccessful in the end. Like Joey, the series' heroine, she also converted to Catholicism.
* [[Charles Dickens]] knew a lot about debtors' prisons - his father had been in one.
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* Similarly, Irini Saviddes teaches English and Drama, and her characters spend a great deal of time in drama class.
* After being head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', a comedy sketch show, Tina Fey created ''30 Rock'', a show which centers around a comedy sketch show. Besides creating the show, Fey has written or co-written several episodes, and portrays the head writer of the show within the show.
* [[Kevin Smith]] has stated this as the reason for him becoming a filmmaker. Specifically, ''[[Clerks]]'' is actually set and shot in the store than Smith worked in.
** And ''[[Zack and Miri Make a Porno]]'' borrows heavily from his experience making ''[[Clerks]]''; shooting in your workplace after hours, using a hockey stick as a boom mic pole etc.
* [[Monty Python]] were veteran British comedy writers, and much of the humor satirizes the, well, [[tropes]] that British comedy writers (and British entertainment in general) were fond of that Python found suspect or trite. When they weren't [[Lampshade Hanging]] it, they were doing their best to twist them or avoid them altogether.
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** And, of course, there's ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]'', which is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|a story about an old man… and the sea...]].
* When [[Spider Robinson]] wrote his first story, ''The Guy with the Eyes'', he didn't want to do any research or try to bluff his way through. So he went through all the things that he had sound personal experience of, and decided to use his knowledge of bars and drink. He imagined the bar that he'd most like to drink in, gave it a first person narrator [[Author Avatar|based on himself]], and set his tale involving {{spoiler|an alien assassin}} there. Thus began the ''[[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon]]'' series.
* [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] based many of his novels on his own life.
* [[FoxTrot|Bill Amend]] majored in physics and won a mathematics prize in college. Needless to say, most of the jokes involve advanced mathematics and physics formulae. One of the more recurring high school teachers is for Physics.
** He is also a Mac user. The iFruit is a... something, of an iMac crossed with some [[Magical Computer]] elements. Earlier computers in the strip had, for what little we saw, a very Mac OS/Macintosh System Software like operating system.
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* David Simon worked as a journalist in Baltimore, and spent a year embedded with the homicide squad as research for his book ''Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets''. This was adapted into ''[[Homicide: Life on the Street]]'', which he also produced, and he later created ''[[The Wire]]'', another police show set in Baltimore, which also includes a storyline about newspaper reporters.
** This also applies to Ed Burns, the co-creator of ''[[The Wire]]''. Much of the backdrop of season 4's criticisms towards the education system was based off Burns' experience as a retired-police-officer-turned-teacher.
* The writer of the
* The writer of the superhero
* The creepy apartment in ''[[Domu: A Child's Dream]]: A Child's Dream'' is based on the one [[Katsuhiro Otomo]] once lived in.
* [[David Langford]]'s novel ''The Leaky Establishment'', a satire on [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|obstructive bureaucracy]] at the fictional Nuclear Ultilisation Technology Centre, was based on his experiences at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
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* Peter Puck, author of the German comic ''[[Rudi]]'', wrote an academic text about punks and got a degree for it. Punks often appear in his comics.
* A teacher at this troper's high school wrote a play that was basically an autobiography in disguise. (It was a hit with the audience, even though many of the cast members predicted massive failure.)
* [[Alastair Reynolds]] has a
* Andrzej Pilipiuk, Polish fantasy author (known, among other things, for his [[Jakub Wedrowycz]] stories) graduated in archaeology, and some of his stories that involve archaeology show true expertise on the subject.
* [[Bridge to Terabithia|Katherine Paterson]] has said her childhood experiences are the reason children in her stories tend to have [[Abusive Parent]]s.
* Film director Andrea Arnold grew up in a council estate and as a result, often sets her works (''Wasp'', ''Red Road'', ''Fish Tank'') in council estates.
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]] grew up in Kansas City, Missouri in the early 1900s. In ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'', he sends his
* [[Dashiell Hammett]], author of detective novels such as ''[[Red Harvest]]'', ''[[The Thin Man (novel)|The Thin Man]]'' and ''[[The Maltese Falcon]]'', was a member of the Pinkerton Detective Agency.
* More meta, but Tarn Adams, the sole programmer (!) of ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'', holds a Ph.D in Mathematics from Stanford. While that doesn't have much to do with dwarves, it certainly goes a long way into explaining the game's near-masochistic levels of complexity (from the point of view of someone else who would design a game). It also explains a lot about the detailed physics simulation in the game - DF mathematical models are good enough to look fairly realistic without being too clunky to actually work at decent speed.
* Brent Butt grew up in small town Saskatchewan. The show ''[[Corner Gas]]'' which he created and stars in is set in the small town of Dog River. Its even more authentic since it was filmed in Rouleau, Saskatchewan and featured many locals as extras in it.
* ''[[The Oatmeal]]'' web comic is focused on numerous subjects that have bugged artist/writer Matthew Inman over the course of his life, most famously a [[Take That]] rant towards his clientele when he worked as a web designer for 14 years.
* ''[[Modelland]]'', written by model Tyra Banks. Need more be said?
* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: The series contains some instances of this. The ghost of Barbara appearing to Myra Rutledge is based off the author's claim that her house has a ghost in it. Fern Michaels is not the author's real name, it was taken from an imaginary friend she had as a child. The book ''Final Justice'' has a character named Marble Rose explain that she took that name from an imaginary friend she had as a child. The author is a Southern woman and she's not afraid to use that knowledge in this series!
* Joe Haldeman has been a regular rider on Amtrak between Boston and Florida for about forty years; parts of several novels were written while en route on those trains. In ''The Hemmingway Hoax'', part of the action takes place on... a train from Boston to Miami.
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* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', interestingly enough. While it's traditionally infamous for many [[Did Not Do the Research|really bizarre things]], starting with Gary Gygax's ideas of ballistics and weapon weight tables, many authors and designers had experience in fields that turned out to be relevant - and it shows.
** Bruce R. Cordell earned a degree in Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology from the University of Colorado. Hence the greatness of ''The Illithiad'' and other books he wrote for ''Monstrous Arcana''.
** Ed Greenwood,
* [[Gregory Benford]] is a physics professor who writes [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness|hard science fiction]]. The main character in his book ''[[Cosm]]'' is a physics professor. The book is about her physics research.
* Herman Wouk was a Jewish naval officer who wrote about Judaism and war.
* [[Frederick Forsyth]] was an RAF flying officer. The protagonist of his short story ''[[The Shepherd (novella)|The Shepherd]]'' is an RAF flying officer.
* [[Ben Stein]] improvised the "Smoot-Hawley Act" scene ("Anyone? Anyone?") in ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]]'', and got the history and the economics right.
{{reflist}}
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