BLOOMINGTON - Tim O'Brien doesn't like to categorize his writing as fiction or nonfiction.

Both have a common thread anyway, said the author best known for his influential work "The Things They Carried," which explores the lives of a U.S. platoon during the Vietnam War.

"Almost every writer starts with real world experiences. … It gives fiction better grounding," said O'Brien, who will speak on the writing craft Thursday in the Twin Cities.

The man whom The San Francisco Chronicle has called "the best American writer of his generation," is the seventh annual Ames/Milner visiting author. The program is co-sponsored by the libraries of Illinois Wesleyan and Illinois State universities.

O'Brien served in the Army during Vietnam and since has used writing to explore wartime experience among other topics. "The Things They Carried" was nominated in 1990 for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics' Circle Award and won several notable awards.

More than a decade earlier, in 1979 he made a splash with his first novel, "Going After Cacciato," taking the National Book Award in Fiction.

It was just a few months after his time in Vietnam that O'Brien found himself sitting in a Harvard University graduate program. So he has some idea of the disjointed feelings veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq may carry when returning to campuses.

"As a soldier, every step you take you're almost dead," he said. But in a university setting life is peaceful and the worries among your fellow students are very different, said O'Brien.

"One minute you're fighting for your life, and the next you're sitting in the seat of civilization: Sidewalks aren't blowing up, and you're talking about Aristotle."

That differentiation can sometimes create feelings of isolation. "Because of what I'd gone through, in some ways I felt 100 years older than my peers," he said.

Originally from Minnesota, these days O'Brien shares an Austin, Texas, home with his wife and their two toddlers. He's taken a sabbatical from Southwest Texas State University to focus on his ninth novel.

This time his topic is parenthood. At 62, he stands out as different from the other, younger parents, he said. Tad is 3, and Timmy, 5.

"Sometimes people think I'm the grandparent," he said.

The process of writing fascinates the author, he said. He'll share some of his views on method during his Twin Cities' talks, including his takes on discipline and perseverance.

"Writing a novel is like a dream. If you wake up from a dream, get up and go to the fridge, you can't get it back," he said.

The same holds true for writing a novel, O'Brien said. If you leave it too long, the idea has passed.

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Visiting author

Who: Seventh annual Ames Library/Milner Library Visiting Author program featuring author Tim O'Brien

When: 2 p.m. Thursday, Hansen Student Center, Illinois Wesleyan University; 7 p.m. Thursday, Braden Auditorium, Illinois State University

Cost: Free and open to the public

Contact: Call (309) 438-7402 for ISU or (309) 556-3220 for IWU