3. Miguel de Cervantes

The great Spanish writer was constantly in and out of captivity. He was was captured by Algerian pirates in 1575 and spent the next five years attempting to escape from North Africa. He fictionalized his experiences in the captive's tale of Don Quixote. After being ransomed, he returned to Spain, but ran into difficulties paying his taxes. In 1597 he was imprisoned in Seville, and according to his author's preface, it was here that he had the idea for Don Quixote. Just when his book was due to be published, he was imprisoned yet again for sheltering a young man who'd been injured in a duel. It's been suggested that the mistaken chapter headings in Don Quixote were due to Cervantes rushing through the printing draft before he was dragged off to his cell.