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.

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