FICTION FROM FACTS #Writing what You Know

What do a weather-beaten Wyoming cowboy, a fed-up-father, and an Alaskan cruise have in common? Each inspired a popular book. 

 

Bring your fiction alive.

  Find a person with a story that inspires, entertains, or sends chills up and down your back. Decide how much of the information you can use.Then apply ABC to change the happening into an exciting tale that will hook readers and keep them reading from the opening sentences to the end.

• Add fictional characters appropriate to the time period and background of the event. Name them accordingly.
• Brainstorm what could have happened as opposed to what actually took place.
• Choose a different setting and expand the happening with dialogue/description, suspense, and a fictional, but believable outcome. 

Used copies available on Amazon

 

My first experience with fiction-based-on fact
writing came in the mid-1980s. My editor-proofreader-cheerleader mother and I took a long driving trip throughout the western states. We met a friendly, old-time cowboy in a small Wyoming cafe. Always curious, we asked how long he had lived there.

"Seems like forever." His face creased into a gazillion  smile wrinkles. "Actually, since I was nine or ten. Our family lived in Utah during the Depression but bought a small ranch here. Dad had been hurt and winter was coming on. The herd had to be moved. Dad said, 'There's the horse, the dog, the cattle. Take them to Wyoming.'"

Mom and I gasped. "How far was it?" I asked. "How big was the herd?"

"Nigh onto two hundred miles and a hundred critters." The former cowboy straightened his bent shoulders and proudly said. "But I did it."

Original cover

My imagination caught fire, collecting and rejecting ideas to make the story believable to current readers. Lead character Josh would be 12, with only 25 cattle and a lot less miles to go. Every possible obstacle that might occur on such a drive would add excitement.

Comrades of the Trail earned a contract on the first submission and high praise from readers. 

 

The second such plot came about 25 years later. A co-worker's teenage kids had gotten out of control. John (name changed) and his wife refused to put up with the rebellion. He took a year's leave of absence and moved the family from Vancouver, Washington to the wilds of eastern Oregon. The kids hated it.

No electricity or running water. An outhouse. Home-schooling. No near neighbors. No TV, Facebook, or texting.

 I was off and running. Wilderness Warriors is among my favorite novels

Patchwork Christmas, co-authored with my niece, Renee DeMarco, is another favorite. In 2004, author Susan K. Marlow and I took a delightful Alaskan cruise. Renee and I already contracted for a two-novella book. Her Remnants of Faith and my Silver Lining are tied together by an heirloom quilt. Note: The quilt on the cover is not the one in the book. Mom made this one in the 1950s. Renee still has th quilt.

Much of my novella is based on and contains actual happenings from the Alaskan cruise--so much so that Susan commented, "If we hadn't gone, I'm not sure what you would have put in the story!"

This title has twice appeared as a single print. Also, a Large print Library edition,  in collections, and with Kindle.  

Like Peeling an Onion

Everyone we meet has at least one story. Eliminating as many layers of "skin" as it takes to get to the core pays off. I love reading a book that states, "This story is based on true incidents with names and/or places changed." If you want to add authenticity to your fiction, look for an equivalent of a former cowboy, desperate parents, or an Alaskan cruise.


Colleen's title's available at