Methods to write a e book based mostly on a real story
Life is full of moments that are stranger than fiction. But how do you write a book based on a true story? How do you take these fantastic events and make an even better story out of them? In practice, it's a lot harder than it sounds!
As a writer, you undoubtedly want to capture those moments in a compelling story that readers cannot write down.
But if you're anything like me, you've found that the process is a lot more difficult than it should. Shouldn't it be easy to translate true events into a story? You apparently have everything you need: characters, events, and all of the plot.
However, translating true events into the written word almost always proves to be a frustratingly difficult task. The process annoys writers for a number of reasons and has likely forced you to finish at least one project that you would have liked to have successfully completed and published.
I know this because I too failed to tell the "perfect" true story.
Do you want to learn how to write a book from start to finish? Read How To Write A Book: The Complete Guide.
My perfect "Based on a True Story" story
When I was eighteen, someone blew up a local gas station.
I grew up in a tiny town, a place where everyone's business is kind of publicly known. And one day in winter we all woke up and one of our three gas stations had switched from a friendly refueling center to a black crater on the surface of the moon.
At first the city was in shock. But within a day I (along with almost everyone else) found out who was doing it.
The gas station was physically linked to the local grocery store owned by the same businessman. Sure enough, a disgruntled employee had blown the station. However, it was just a distraction so he could take an ATM stolen from the grocery store into the woods, where he would have time to break into it and steal its contents.
Doesn't this sound like a great foundation for a story based on a true story? It did me. But in the sixteen years since then, I have struggled to know what to do with all the craziness and absurdity of my little hometown incident.
4 steps to writing a book based on a true story
In all stories based on real events, you have to make certain decisions about the characters, their motivations and the events. And in stories that involve you directly or tangentially as a potential character, an initial, difficult decision must be made.
Here are four steps to writing a book based on a true story:
1. Remove yourself from history
Nine times out of ten, as a writer, you probably aren't the best person to include in the story.
Why? Because usually when real things happen around us, they happen to us or they don't happen to us. And when it does, the entire experience is filtered through one heavily biased point of view: our own.
The first problem I had while writing my gas station story came from this idea. I always filtered it through my own perspective and had nothing to do with the main events of the story.
I experienced the explosion and follow-up as a poor (but deeply interested) observer. I worked on the food story throughout high school, often scrolling cash or receipts from the adjacent gas station. It was basically my second home.
Then, on the night of the explosion, I had a shift in the store and looked at the CCTV footage showing the arsonist walking through the building to steal the ATM. I recognized him instantly (although he was wearing a baseball cap over his eyes), as did everyone else.
Here's the problem with all of this: in this version of the story, I'm the hero.
In reality, however, it's a bunch of other people – the arsonist, his wife, the policeman who ran over the wire that started the explosion, and the butchers who were cutting meat on the other side of the concrete wall when hundreds of gallons of gasoline ignited real characters of the story. I am not mentioned in any fictionalization of the drama.
So I had to completely remove myself from the story. It wasn't mine to say.
This is the first and often the most painful step in translating true events into writing. And it is often painful because, in many circumstances, you are more directly affected by events than I was by the arson.
However, in most cases, it is best to step away from the story. Not only does this liberate you from your own prejudices, but it also begins an adjustment process that will lead you to see each character for who they are – part of a storytelling puzzle. You are not recreating a story.
You tell a story.
For this reason, I invite you to take a step back, take some time to process, and emotionally separate yourself from what has happened. This is the only way to write a book that is based on a true story.
2. Cut out characters
Most real life events involve many characters. Families are big. Companies employ hundreds of people. Villages and cities are home to thousands or millions.
But stories – good stories at least – usually only contain a small handful of characters. Large numbers of characters are difficult to handle (unless you're Stephen King or you're writing something with 100,000 words or more).
In our efforts to replicate "reality" we often feel that every personality that was actually there needs to be included. This rarely leads to a good story.
A strong example of this is Brian De Palma's 1987 film The Untouchables. This crime thriller depicts the task force that defeated Al Capone and focuses on a team of four heroes, some of whom die on duty.
In reality there were at least nine “untouchables”, not four. What about the other five guys? To tell the story well, the screenwriter rolled them all up to form four character types that made for an entertaining story.
Is the movie "true"? Yes and no. But either way, it's an entertaining film that captures the essence of the Untouchables without being a slave to the line and letter of historical fact.
Your adaptation must do the same. Find out who is essential to the story you are telling and make bold decisions. It will focus your writing and reduce the burden of getting it right about the story when you should focus on getting it right about the story.
To learn more about character development and the ones to keep in one Story, check out this post.
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Find out who is essential to the story you are telling and make bold choices to circumcise everyone else.
3. Exaggerate (or invent) motivations
Perhaps one of the main reasons we write books based on true stories is to find out the "why". Why should a serial killer act a certain way? Why did a certain civil rights icon make her heroic choices? Why would a disgruntled employee blow up their workplace and not just rob it?
That was my mission when I sat down to finally write the story of the blown gas station. I wanted to know why.
The real motivation, of course, was simple: it was the arsonist's middle finger for his boss, while at the same time getting the money he needed for god-knows-what.
Can this motivation be assigned? Little bit.
But is it brave, gripping and leafing through? Not really.
So I added a second plot: the arsonist's wife leaves him because of an old flame and he suspects it. So not only does he blow up the gas station to pay her debt, but he also shows her how far he will go to get her attention and respect.
It's obviously wrong and illegal, but brave and understandable. We were all desperate and dreaming of doing crazy pent-up things. Writing stories is the healthy way to get them out!
There is often no way of knowing the real reason for every strange story you want to tell.
You can get exhausted searching and researching to find out the "truth". Sometimes all you have to do is come up with the truth.
And based on the crazy things we see and hear, our made up truth is often surprisingly accurate.
Just make sure to change names, events, and anything else that could cause a lawsuit to fly in your direction!
4. Turn a true story into a great story
The final change you need to be ready to make is structural. This change is less important than personal prejudices, characters and motivations and is very specific to the course of events.
Sometimes you're lucky, and the chain of events is ideal for a three- or five-act structure. This was the case with me at the gas station. While I had to create the lead and aftermath of the explosion / robbery myself, the sequence required very few changes. That's because it all happened within a day or two.
When events are summarized in shorter periods of time, they are easier to structure.
However, when the events are spread out over weeks, months, and years, structuring your story becomes much more difficult. What is important? What can be cut? Can events be rearranged?
Unfortunately, it all depends on the specifics of the history you are rewriting and I can't help you there. However, here are some guidelines to help you out.
In essence, an event or scene can be cut (or greatly altered) if:
- Nobody makes a choice
- Nobody suffers from a choice
- Nobody discovers the motivation for a choice
If none of these three things happen, the event can likely be cut short (this is decent storytelling advice in general, by the way!).
You can also take the setting, if it's particularly good, and move it to another location. Put a gripping conversation in an exciting place. All of this is part of the "artistic license," the kind of changes good writers are supposed to make.
True stories are not always good stories
This may sound surprising, but readers don't want reality when they read something "based on a true story". They think they do – but they don't because reality is slow, chaotic, and full of worldly and meaningless moments.
Readers really want a good story, not just a true story.
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Your job is to study the "real story" and work out the best conflict, riskiest decisions, and most compelling goals / motivations to make a good story out of it.
What about you? Have you ever seen something that would make a great story? Let me know in the comments below!
WORK OUT
For fifteen minutes, summarize an event that happened in your life or in your life. It's just too crazy to be true and would make a great story.
Then come up with one important change you want to make to turn it into a great story using the four steps above. Share your writing and change in the comments section!
David Safford
