Fact into Fiction

Students of mine often take something that they've been through and turn it into fiction. Sometimes, when they're reading their stories in workshop, someone will say, "You know, that one part on page 4 where he throws the dog out the window . . . that doesn't seem believable." The writer's defense is often, "But that's what happened! It really happened!" Whether or not it really happened doesn't necessarily mean that it will make good fiction. It's funny, but there are things we will believe in the newspaper that we won't believe in a short story. Sometimes we have to change the facts to make the story work as fiction. Don't be married to the actual story. Make it into fiction.