Inspired, but not trapped, by…
Me as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker the summer I was 15, which has inspired my novel in-progress.
How to turn your real life into fiction without letting “what really happened” hold your story back.
Writers often base their fiction writing and screenplays on their real life. Of course they do. Our lives are full of conflict, obstacles, loss, and triumph. It’s easily accessible drama. But hewing too closely to “what really happened” can be a trap. Real life does not necessarily flow like a well-crafted story.
I’m wrestling with this myself. My novel in-progressis inspired by the summer I was 15, and although those three months were certainly dramatic, the actual events don’t line up with what I want to be an engaging, satisfying narrative arc. Life is messy, circular, and unresolved. Some life stories never fully get started; others fizzle out. Fiction demands structure. What I need to do is embrace my imagination. I must think beyond the confines of “what really happened” and put the story first. I encourage you to do this, too.
Start by developing a protagonist who is not a carbon copy of you. When we write our version of ourselves as our main character, we tend to 1) define them the least clearly of all our characters; and 2) protect them from making mistakes. Push your main character to be different from how you view yourself. Give them different identifying traits, even if it’s simply hair color or height. Assign them with a strength and weakness opposite of your own. If you’re decisive, allow them to be indecisive. Create a hobby or passion for them that you know little about, or give them a talent that you don’t possess (but maybe always dreamed you did). This character must start to form in your head as their own entity, as not as murky version of you.
The same applies to events. Instead of trying to make your memories fit into a perfect arc, push past them. A reliable way to do this is to lean on story structure. Start by identifying your story’s inciting incident, midpoint, and climax. If those beats don’t exist in the real-life version of your story, make them up. That scaffolding gives you a framework to build toward, and it frees you from trying to bend lived experience into a shape it will resist taking. If story structure stumps you, or if you’d like some extra support with it, I’m here for you. I’ll listen to your story and help you develop its structure. Especially when the idea for your story is based on real life, it’s helpful to talk to someone else about the fiction that can grow from it.
Let your life be the spark, but don’t let it be the cage. The work of the fiction writer is to transform experience into story, and story is what readers come for.