Planning on writing a book about true events - any help appreciated.

[LAP17796]

Hi everyone,

I would just like to start off by saying thank you for reading my thread. I am an 18 year old college student studying I.T but I also believe that I have a story worth telling.

I want to write it in 3rd person and about someone who goes through his childhood fighting depression, anger issues, Diabetes and losing one of his brothers and his father. I have still not decided on a title but I have started a rough paragraph.

If you could kindly take a look through it and give me some pointers as to what needs to be included etc I would very gladly appreciate it!

A happy family. Every young childs dream. Smiles all around, glimmering from one face to the next. Emmiting the natural love that familys share within.

Except, this wasnt always the case with young Thomas Buellas. Very far from it. Living in the hollow slums deep into Tinver Town, Thomas was a bright, hopeful boy, will plenty to aspire to. Despite the fact that he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, he soldiers on through fire, because he wants to thrive. However, his family on the other hand, were locked in battle every night, a test of strength, horns clashed together and the bulls were fiesty.

Mother and Father, violently arguing, with the smashing of various objects. This wasnt an abnormality for Thomas, but never the less each night upsets him more and more until one night... he finally cracked

[Dr. Drib]

You need to work on your grammar before you do any more writing.

You have a misspelled word, along with sentence fragments, and a possessive not marked.

While your story may be an interesting one that you wish to tell, very few people (in my opinion) will want to wade through such issues.

Master grammar, go to writing workshops, read more extensively, and practice. And after you have finished doing all those things, practice some more, read some more, and study the basics of grammar again.

[Froide]

LAP17796, while everything Dr. Drib said is important - you should follow his advice - I must add: some successful, published books (including some bestsellers) have been written by poor grammarians who've had an interesting story to tell, the help of a strong editorial team, and sometimes, a ghostwriter. So, if you believe in your story, then don't be discouraged by the work required to get it told.

As a first step, I suggest that you enroll yourself in one or more writing workshops, where you'll receive feedback and advice from the moderator and other members, as well as learn what works well and what doesn't from reviewing/discussing other members' work and the already-published works recommended and discussed. In the USA, where I live, public libraries, some bookstores, arts councils, and local colleges (especially lifelong learning programs and community colleges) often host high-quality writers' workshops free of charge or for a nominal fee. You might also ask your local librarians, booksellers, and English teachers for help locating suitable workshops and writing classes.

Good luck!

[crich70]

And you don't really need to know how to type either, though it helps I'm sure. One writer who wrote using the two fingered hunt and peck method was J.R. R. Tolkien. And look what he managed to write.

[BookCat]

If this is a rough first draft, it's fine, but I agree with Dr Drib, it needs lots of polishing: learn how to use apostrophes, etc. Also, I think that you take the image of

"However, his family on the other hand, were locked in battle every night, a test of strength, horns clashed together and the bulls were fiesty."

too far; it becomes confusing. Also the double negative in the line:

"This wasnt an abnormality for Thomas"

would be better written as: "This was normality for Thomas".

At the moment I'm doing nanowrimo and writing a fictional biography about my house move, however I'm doing this as therapy with no thought of publication; it's too personal and has too many real people in it for publication. But other authors have published such novels during their lifetime.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by BookCat

If this is a rough first draft, it's fine, but I agree with Dr Drib, it needs lots of polishing: learn how to use apostrophes, etc. Also, I think that you take the image of

"However, his family on the other hand, were locked in battle every night, a test of strength, horns clashed together and the bulls were fiesty."

too far; it becomes confusing. Also the double negative in the line:

"This wasnt an abnormality for Thomas"

would be better written as: "This was normality for Thomas".

At the moment I'm doing nanowrimo and writing a fictional biography about my house move, however I'm doing this as therapy with no thought of publication; it's too personal and has too many real people in it for publication. But other authors have published such novels during their lifetime.

Yep. Charles Dickens springs to mind. He fictionalized his own early life when writing Oliver Twist and David Copperfield.

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Master grammar, go to writing workshops, read more extensively, and practice.

Yup, do all that. But I'm going to toss in my two cents and recommend that you also go ahead and just charge forward with this manuscript. Get it out. Get it written. Get the story on the page while it's still burning passionately in your heart.

There's no need to pause your creative process until you reach some arbitrary standard of "good enough". You can improve your craft and experience the joy of creation at the same time.

[pendragginp]

Exactly. Get the story down first. All the fixing can come after. Good luck! Don't get discouraged!

[crich70]

Also you should get as much documentation of the events you are writing about as you can to limit the chances of litigation. For example if you were writing about a scandal involving a politician you would want to make sure that what you were writing about was based on fact and not just rumors. Otherwise he/she might be able to take you to court for defamation of character or something.

[pendragginp]

I get the feeling this is based on personal events though -

[crich70]

Originally Posted by pendragginp

I get the feeling this is based on personal events though -

Even when about personal events it is wise to tread carefully I think as no man is an island. I mean if I were to write about events that happened to me I'm sure they would involve people I know (friends and/or family) and not everyone would necessarily remember event x the same way as me.

[BookCat]

I also agree with the idea of "get it writ, then get it right" and "shitty first drafts". Carry on with the flow of creativity, when you get to the end, put the manuscript away for a few weeks/months - however long it takes to develop distance. Then come back and read it as though you were reading the work of another author and set about the work of changing it where it needs to be changed.
It you are thinking of publication, be careful, maybe even run it past a lawyer/solicitor otherwise your point of view could become libel. (This is why I'm not publishing mine, but just writing it for my own benefit.)
I don't know how Dickens avoided these issues.

[Dr. Drib]

One can't "set about the work of changing it where it needs to be changed," if one is incompetent when it comes to lacking grammar skills.

Sure, he or she can write and get it out of one's system, but that's about all it would be: a masturbatory exercise and nothing more - UNLESS one cares to develop needed skills and then to apply those skills.

[pendragginp]

But we can if we then turn it over to someone else whose strengths are grammar and spelling. That's the kind of thing that can be fixed by a good copy editor. What the copy editor can't do though is write the original story for him. Get it down, then get it right.

Ask me how I know - former editor who fixed many a terrible manuscript which under the wonky grammar or spelling contained a genuine story.

Many creative people are not good at those things, but we don't want to discourage the creativity for that reason. A new story is a shy and delicate thing - we don't want to crush it out early on by lumbering it with discouragement about things that are easily fixed later.

Methinks.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by pendragginp

But we can if we then turn it over to someone else whose strengths are grammar and spelling. That's the kind of thing that can be fixed by a good copy editor. What the copy editor can't do though is write the original story for him. Get it down, then get it right.

Ask me how I know - former editor who fixed many a terrible manuscript which contained a genuine story.

My point is that someone has to fix it.

If he just wants to get a story out, he might wish to hire someone to simply write for him. If he wishes to do it himself, then he's going to have to educate himself and learn the craft of writing.