Real life versus fictionalizing for the sake of your story
and your future readers
He’s researched the time period in history and the true-life facts of people and legal cases he plans to fictionalize in a thriller. Two main characters. Both male. One likable. The other, not so much.
Seems pretty obvious to me who carries the heart of the story. Conflict occurs when it’s clear the writer is stuck on who he thinks “should” be the protagonist though he’s ambivalent and he’s also locked into the true chronology and actual events and characters as they actually are in real-life.
We go over the Energetic Markers and main turning points of his story at the overall true-story level. Then we do the same thing for the two major real-life characters. As we explore the underlying theme of the overall story, he slowly begins to appreciate who carries the heart of the story and why.
When we begin to plot out his story with the fictionalized characters I can nearly hear his mind creak open beyond what he’s considered previously. His joints pop as he reaches for ideas that complicate the story nicely, force him to veer off from the known facts to fictionalizing for the sake of the story and his future readers, and challenge his writing greatly.
By the end of the story, he has a clear beginning, middle and end of his story from one character’s point of view AND from the secondary character’s point of view. I hope he allows the bad-guy the freedom to carry the true weight of the story’s major antagonist, bordering-on full-blown villain.
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