When I decided to write a fictional account of a time in my own life, I thought, how hard could that be? Surely the objective to write a novel about yourself would not be any seat-of-the-pants endeavor, not with an outline already intact. I lived the story, experienced the inciting incident, faced the point of no return, and after jumping hurdle after hurdle (or more like crawling over them), I found my happy ending.
What’s so hard about that?
As it turns out, plenty. For one thing, the story wasn’t just mine—it was his, too. (Did I mention that this was a romance?) In fact, my guy, my man—my hero—was the one urging me to write our story for years. So, it stands to reason that he would want his point of view to be wedged in there somehow. And not just his POV written from the author’s perspective (aka mine), but from, well, his.
I remember writing a particular scene based on a tragic moment from his past. He had told me about that night many times, and when I set out to craft a fictionalized version of it, I wrote what I thought worked. In this scene, my hero has just returned home after spending a long day at the hospital at the bedside of someone he loved. His hands are full as he exits his car, and just as he’s about to pop the door closed with his hip, his cellphone rings. One look at the screen, and he knows it’s bad news. Very bad news.
Now, see, I pictured this and wrote what I saw. My hero was holding a coffee mug, and in his shock from receiving the phone call, he would drop the mug onto the cement driveway, while he stood there in the dark and watched it shatter.
But when my husband reviewed that scene, he shook his head. “That’s not what he would have done,” he told me, his mouth a grim line. “He wouldn’t drop the mug—he would throw it against the pavement.”
Wow.
I learned something about my husband’s tragic past in that moment, and even a little about how some men process grief. That scene ended on a much more powerful note than I had envisioned.
There were other challenges, too, in writing our “inspired by” story. Walking on Sea Glass the novel I’m referring to, is the story of a man who experiences a great loss then meets a young woman who faces a serious difficulty of her own. Not exactly light-hearted fare, but I’m a goofball at heart. My stories, whether chick-lit, inspirational romance, or cozy mystery, are all interwoven with humor. I tend to want to make people laugh more than cry, but sometimes while writing this story, I was the one laughing.
Like when working on another scene from the hero’s point of view, one of those reflective moments that, if I weren’t careful, could bore my readers. I knew something had to happen soon, and since this was a romance, it had to involve them both. As I moved deeper into the writing zone, the scene crystalized in my mind. Instinctively, I knew what he was thinking, and what would happen next.
You’re a writer, so I’m sure you know that feeling.
But then I got to the part about him seeing her jogging on the beach. Suddenly he was describing her long limbs striding, her dark hair blowing behind her. I giggled out loud at that. Because technically, he is my husband, and she is me, and I basically wrote that I was willowy and strong. A reader might actually infer that she/I was pretty.
You might laugh (a little) when you write a novel about your own life.
I battled through writing plenty of other scenes, too, some based on our truth, and others figments of my hyperactive imagination. One subplot became so real to me that I had to remind myself that I had made up every last word of it.
That’s what the power of story does, right? It draws us into its world, causing us to wrestle, to weep, and, yes, even to laugh. As writers, we create characters who resonate with readers when we weave slivers of truth into our fiction, leave the boring parts out, and ultimately show that beauty truly can come from ashes. Not always easy, but absolutely worth it.
Now it’s your turn: Open up a blank page and write a novel about your life!
Here are some books to help you get writing.
And if you’re interested to read the 5-book Sea Glass Inn series, I’m offering an ebook bundle deal here: The Sea Glass Inn collection
*This article originally appeared in Southern Writer’s Magazine