Anne McDonald: Tonight I'm so pleased to welcome DiAnn Mills but first, let's open in prayer and then I'll go over protocol.

 

Lord, thank You for meeting our daily needs. Thank You also for calling us to write. Please bless our time tonight, and bless DiAnn for giving of her time. Guide our time together in Jesus' name, Amen.

 

Protocol reminder: type ? for questions, ! for comments and ga for " go ahead" when you are through. DiAnn will start out first, and let us know when she's ready for questions...

 

As I was saying, I'm so excited to have DiAnn Mills as our special guest tonight. She's got a non-fiction book out next month: Lost Boy No More and I urge everyone to get a copy. Welcome, DiAnn.

 

* Annie leads the applause

 

DiAnn Mills: Thank you Anne! Tonight we are going to talk about a subject that every writer sooner or later faces. And that is the task of turning non fiction into fiction.

 

I have two different ideas along this line, and we will begin with the most common one first: Someone approaches you and states: I have had such an exciting life, I want you to write a book about me. Get the picture?

 

Chances are an event or a happening in that person’s life may be unusual, but unless the person is a celebrity, on the front page of the newspaper, or a sports idol, no one is really interested. What you can offer is to take the information and use it in a fiction piece. Some people want a book focusing on them, and this will not be what they want to hear. I had a woman correspond with me for over four months. She wanted a book written.

 

If you decide to take the information and write a novel, I recommend a signed statement from the person who gives the factual accounting allowing you to use the material and to use it in fiction form. This may also need to state that you the writer have the right to add, delete, or embellish upon the information. You may then choose to have the statement notarize.

 

Do I have any questions so far?

 

Diana: Does this include something that has happened to you that is significant?

 

DiAnn Mills: Of course. We all have events in our lives that are exciting or interesting, but it doesn't mean that we need to write a biography or memoirs

 

Anne McDonald: It's like I could write about my father's murder in a novel, but I wouldn't have enough for a nonfiction book.

 

DiAnn Mills: True - and chances are in a nonfiction, folks would not really be interested in your father BUT they would find the event intriguing in a fiction.

 

Sometimes, feelings get ruffled when the writer needs to explain this. I suggest prayer and time to work your explanations.

 

Anne McDonald: DiAnn, what about that German woman I told you about. The one who was a nurse in WWII and helped over a hundred Jews escape. If I had been able to get enough background info, would that had been enough for a nonfiction?

 

DiAnn Mills: It depends. Honestly, I think fiction is the best route to take with this. The reason is that you can build around the happenings in her life. Establish conflict and plot - then build to a climax. You can always acknowledge the person at the front of the book

 

I did this with The Turncoat. This woman had Revolutionary War records and a journal of an ancestor. She signed the agreement. I wrote the book. In this particular instance, I found the story fascinating and worth telling.

 

In a suspense novella entitled “At the End of the Bayou,” from Hidden Motives, I used part of a family story in which siblings were trapped in a second story bedroom. One of the siblings jumped to show the others that it was possible. The rest of her siblings were too frightened and died in the fire. The portion I used was only a semblance of what really happened.

 

Look at newspaper headlines. Take a look at TV news. Listen to the radio. Every day there are happenings around the globe that will trigger new fiction story ideas.  

 

Any questions or comments?

 

Diana: I want to write a story about my parents getting married the week the Golden Gate Bridge was open. My Dad was Navy on the battleship Pennsylvania. They opened City Hall on Saturday for them and three other couples from the fleet so they could get married.

 

DiAnn Mills:  Do you think you would have more readers in the fiction world or the non fiction? That is your stepping off point.. That incident could be used effectively in fiction form.

 

Read the rest of the transcript

 

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