In 1970, the year that Guerra was born, her family moved from a small village to Cienfuegos, on Cuba's southern coast. Guerra first collection, Platea a oscuras, won her a prize from the University of Havana when she was barely 17. She then took a degree in film making at Havana’s Instituto Superior de Arte. She kept a diary during this time. Guerra’s diaries formed the basis for her first novel, Todos Se Van (Everyone's Leaving), which was published in 2006, and followed its young protagonist through childhood and adolescence in Cuba.

Guerra’s perception of writing is very personal; she works with life and with history. It’s the country she was born in - Cuba - that inspires her.

Wendy Guerra’s source of inspiration was Anaïs Nin, the legendary diarist.