A few semesters ago, I wrote a short story that was loosely based on real events. When I did so, I changed many of the details to fit the assignment of writing a fiction piece. Recently I have been considering rewriting the piece into creative nonfiction. It has not been easy; however, I have still made an attempt.
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August 24, 2017
Age 14
“You know,
Irelyn. There are plenty of reasons to try this year. You’re a sophomore this
year which means you can start joining all the clubs, and you have more
authority in the band, don’t you?” Melissa’s therapist's voice is soft, but it
penetrates my thoughts. I don’t want her to think that she has swayed me, so I
keep a straight face and force myself to look through her. She sighs and writes
something on her clipboard.
“One day
you are going to have to talk to me. That’s the only way that your father will
let you stop coming to see me.” She leans forward, and my eyes refocus. “I know
you’re in there and you’re listening. There are going to be days that are
harder than others. You may think that nobody believes in you, but I do. I
believe that you can fight the battles inside yourself and overcome. I’m not
the only one either. Your teachers have told me that you show real promise and
that you don’t give up on trying. You are different than other kids in your
position. You haven’t given up or accepted the idea of becoming another
statistic. But you will become one if you give up. You just have to try.”
April 19, 2018
Age 14
I stand in
the bathroom mirror, examining the ends of my hair. It’s all brown, but I think
a different color could be a nice change. I rummage through the cabinet under
the sink and pull out an old box of blue hair dye. I skim the directions and
get to work. Blue can’t be that bad on me. It was her favorite color on me, so
it must look good.
…
While many details in this section are exact, I had to change a few of them to create emotional distance. The scene involving my therapist did not happen exactly the way it appears on the page in the original text. I felt the need to change it because I did not want my readers to know how deeply therapy influenced me. In the section above, the details are more exact as to how the conversation happened.
I have not gotten around to dying my hair just yet, but
when I do, an additional character is to make an appearance. My best friend at
the time actually dyed my hair blue and purple in the middle of my kitchen.
Working her character into the story may not sound difficult, but, again, there
is emotional distance to be considered. As I continue to transform the original
piece into creative nonfiction, more and more healing will occur. This process
has been a journey that I hope will be worthwhile.
Hi Irelyn, as a reader who has attempted therapy it never occurred to me to observe how much of an influence it may have in my writing let alone my life. I have always thought of therapy as a thought eraser, something to help alleviate or eliminate subconscious thoughts that may be hindering us from our better selves. As far as revising the original piece into creative nonfiction, I think you are on the right track to creating a very relatable piece that could heal yourself and other readers in some way.
ReplyDeleteHello, I find it interesting first that you wrote a fiction piece loosely based on true events. Whenever I had to write fiction, I always avoided the real life as much as I could. Another thing that I found interesting was that you are working on revising the piece to make it nonfiction. I feel like that will be something hard to do but once you do it, you will feel better. I know that because when it comes to the uncomfortable piece that we had to write for class, that is how it was for me. I mentioned in my blog that because it was so hard to write, I ended up writing more bluntly and my writing style changed completely. This will happen. You were a different person when that happened, and the writing will reflect that. I hope that you are able to finish and revise the piece because I know that it will be worthwhile for you.
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