Autobiographical fiction
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Writing a Novel Inspired by Your Life? The Do&#;s and Don&#;ts of Writing Autobiographical Fiction
Are you writing autobiographical fiction?
Recently I heard back from a literary agent who had requested my full manuscript: an upper middle grade contemporary that I wrote after reading some of my adolescent diaries. Here&#;s part of what the agent said:
I was seriously getting flashbacks to my first relationships&#;dating in eighth/ninth grade was SO AWKWARD! You absolutely nail that in this story. I like the set-up a lot in terms of the characters, dynamics, and the unfolding dilemma. However, I&#;m afraid it began to feel a little too mired in the reality of eighth grade (the back-and-forth wondering, highs and lows of the day) and thus a little slow pacing-wise.
When inom read the email to my husband, he said, &#;so she didn&#;t like it because it was too realistic?&#;
Yes, this fryst vatten one of the problems with writing autobiographical fiction. Sometimes it&#;s hard to d • A former ad executive turned screenwriter, Herman Raucher took inspiration from his own life for his first movie screenplay, Summer of '42. The coming of age story, starring Jennifer O'Neill of Scanners fame, was based on his own adolescent experiences, particularly a summer he spent on Nantucket Island where he fell in love for the first time with a woman named Dorothy. The now-adult Raucher looks back on his youth and the events that inspired him, his friends Oscy and Benjie, and the lonely abandoned housewife Dorothy, to bond. Summer of '42 was a huge hit at the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing movies of There was so much demand for more of Raucher's story that he wrote a novel to satiate audiences' hunger. He penned a sequel, Class of '44, which followed the characters as they entered college, and there was even an off-Broadway musical adaptation. • Today&#;s guest post is by ghostwriter Barry Fox. It’s a common problem. You’re eagerly writing the story of your life from beginning to end when suddenly you get to that jerk you’d love to omit—you know, the ex-spouse from hell, maybe the sibling you haven’t spoken to in decades, or some other diabolical character. You don’t even want to think about this loser, let alone write about him. Why open old wounds? Or you might worry that if you tell the truth about him you’ll hurt others, or maybe get slapped with a lawsuit. Then there are the embarrassing “What was I thinking?!” moments in your life that you’d like to scrub from your story. Or maybe your life is somewhat convoluted and hard to follow; too many people, places, events, and other things to cover. You’d like to simplify things to make it an easier, more interesting read. As a ghostwriter, I’ve been faced with this problem more than once. One of my clients requested just “a little adjustment” in her autobiography—meani
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