Writing a Book About a Family Member

One of the hardest parts about writing a memoir is figuring out how to write about the people closest to you. What do you share, and what do you leave out? Today, author Mary Ford shares some advice about writing characters based on someone you know in real life:

My book Boy at the Crossroads: From Teenage Runaway to Class President, was inspired by true events. The coming-of-age story depicts an adolescent who grew up impoverished and with minimal affection, but still found the strength to follow his gut toward something more.

My husband encouraged me to write his story. That was the easy part. The challenge was pulling the story together in an interesting and cohesive way.

Being married for forty-nine years meant I knew my subject well. He told me about his teenage exploits after we started dating. I knew back then; I had the core of a story that might just pull readers in. For starters: My husband is the fifteenth of sixteen children; he ran away from home at thirteen; and hitchhiked his way around the deep South. He ended up selling hotdogs in New Orleans. It was 1955.

In 1987, we settled in Massachusetts. Our kids were in school and I went to work full-time for the local newspaper. I asked my husband to talk into a tape recorder on his annual, two-day-long driving trips home from Massachusetts to Tennessee.

His memory for the smallest detail is remarkable. Over some twenty years, I had dozens of miniature cassettes for research.

Retirement from my long career as a newspaper editor nearly four years ago provided me with the opportunity to transcribe the tapes and start drafting the story.

Having a willing subject made the writing easier. The dilemma was: what to leave on the cutting-room floor? My husband relished sharing all his anecdotes and vignettes, to the point where the story could’ve gotten lost in the proverbial “walk down memory lane.” 

Best advice I received: if it doesn’t move the story forward, take it out!

Second best advice: Writing a novel inspired by a true story rather than a biography. Writing biographical fiction provided me with the freedom to enhance dialog and some scenes.

Third best advice: Leave the newswoman behind. No one wants to read a 250-page report. I had to learn how to be an author, not a reporter. That means using words to show what happened not just to tell what happened.

Writing is more a craft than an art. It requires rewriting and revising. Join writing groups and take classes to get started. If your goal is to have your book be enjoyed by a wider audience than friends and family—then listen to critiques, learn, and make the necessary changes.

I became a published author at seventy-two, so it’s never too late to write the book inside of you!

Mary Ford is a retired, award-winning journalist who spent twenty-eight years as the editor of two successful, small-town newspapers in Massachusetts. She and her husband, Conley, live in a small town south of Boston, with their dog, George. Boy at the Crossroads: From Teenage Runway to Class President is a classic coming-of-age story set in the 1950s. For more about Mary Ford and her novel, visit: maryfordedit.com. Boy at the Crossroads is available online wherever books are sold.