I'll take a certain concern of my own or a situation and try to frame it around a fictional story, but sometimes just straight-up autobiographical songs work well, and sometimes a story is better. I like stories. I like to hear them. I don't think there are enough of them in songs anymore.
I'm always depressed when a book ends, because those are my friends for however long the book takes to write. Since I spend so many hours with these fictional people, I sometimes see them more than my real friends. And then they're gone, and we'll never be together like that again.
I often use hypothetical situations to generate information and imagery for paintings and to create a fictional space where a subject can be put into play.
Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.
Having spent so much time in a fictional world, I prefer to read about the real world.