When A True Story Becomes A Book

Edie here. I'm super excited to announce a new regular contributor here on The Write Conversation! I'm sure you've enjoyed the guest posts from Crystal the past few months and now we're going to hear from her every month. We're blessed to have her, so give her a warm welcome to our TWC crew!

When a True Story Becomes a Book

by Crystal Bowman

When people have a life experience they want to turn into a book, it can be challenging. Even though the experience may be book worthy, it still needs to meet the literary requirements of  a professionally written story. So how true does a story need to be to be a true story?

My agent e-introduced me to a professor from Denver Seminary whose brilliant wife was diagnosed with dementia in her early 50s. A writer of numerous academic books, he also wrote a memoir about his journey caring for his wife through her life-altering disease. The type of dementia she had caused her to lose her ability to communicate. The intelligent, articulate wife he loved could no longer find words. The relationships she had with people diminished completely, but her relationship with Sunny, their terrier, stayed the same. A friend suggested that he write a picture book to help children understand how this disease can affect someone they love. That’s when we met.   

During a lengthy phone conversation I explained that a picture book on this topic is needed in today’s market, but the story about his wife could not be told exactly how things happened. To being with, they had no children or grandchildren. A picture book needs at least one child character, so we would need to add that. Many of the medical details would not make age appropriate content, so we would need to drop some of that. We discussed other details that could be included or deleted, but one thing was certain—Sunny would definitely be in the book. 

I created three characters—a boy, his grandmother, and his mother, and included Sunny as the canine character. I wrote the story in first person, from the grandson’s point of view, allowing the reader to  experience the story though the eyes of a child. The boy is happy when Grandma and Sunny come to live with them. They enjoy many fun days until Grandma’s forgetfulness begins to change their lives. When the mother can no longer care for Grandma, they need to move Grandma to a home where other people can take care of her.  

A children’s story does not need a happily-ever-after ending, but it needs to end with hope. I created an ending that will make the reader smile but may also trigger a gentle tear. Is the story a true story? No. The genre is fiction, but it is inspired by a true story and dedicated to the professor’s wife, whom he adored. 

Whether you write a book for adults or children, a true story doesn’t always translate into a good book. Sometimes it does, but sometimes it doesn’t. When writing a book based on a true story, writers need to discern which facts are needed and which ones are not. We needed Sunny in our story, so he made the cut. And to make him true-to-life, we sent the illustrator a picture of Sunny. He nailed it! 

I Love You to the Stars—When Grandma Forgets, Love Remembers will release this fall, published by Kregel Publishing. (It's available for preorder NOW!)

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Crystal Bowman is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 100 books for children and four nonfiction books for women. She also writes lyrics for children’s piano music and is a monthly contributor to Clubhouse Jr. Magazine. She loves going to schools to teach kids about poetry. She also speaks at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groups and teaches workshops at writers’ conferences. When she is not writing or speaking, she enjoys going for walks, working out at the gym, and eating ice cream. She and her husband live in Michigan and have seven huggable grandkids. 

www.crystalbowman.com

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