What Are Your Headlines?

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

Apparently Mark Zuckerberg became a father this weekend, for the second time. Yahoo deemed this newsworthy, and as I read this headline and a few others, something struck me that relates to storytelling.

Who cares?

I'm not suggesting nobody cares, what I'm asking is who is it that cares? Certainly it's a life-changing event for the parents of any new child, so they go at the top of the list. Next in line would be their families, then friends, then associates, and so on. At some point fans of the co-founder of Facebook presumably care, as do writers for Yahoo.

Meanwhile, North Korea was testing hydrogen bombs.

There you have one news story with limited impact on the average person's life, and another news story with considerably greater potential. Which of these stories, if you were to put them in your novel, would keep your reader up at night turning pages?

Fact is, either one is fair game, since a comedy-drama can easily exploit the challenges of something as normal as parenthood, while the threat of nuclear war is a spy thriller staple. Perhaps even better, combine them: if the undercover agent's wife or daughter has just given birth, does that not raise the stakes for the hero?

The point is, every life event, however big or small, can have a role in a story if it furthers the plot or adds a layer of interest. Like reporters always looking for a scoop, storytellers need look no further than the daily events around us to find plausible plot points and twists.

As you look back over your own life, there are certain episodes that stand out in your mind more than others. These headlines of your life are step one if you're writing a memoir, but any one of them makes you uniquely qualified to fictionalize it as an event in your novel. You had to live through it; why not capitalize on it?

It's good to think of the significant events in your novel as if they were headlines, and to make each one newsworthy. Some may be a personal crisis just for the hero while others may be the basis for widespread panic. Give your characters captivating headlines to live out, and your audience will stick around to read all about it.

Turning Facts to Fiction

By Mary Lee

When Grandma’s False Teeth Fly, my second published children’s book, was released February 2012, a fictional story, grew from factual events.

As a child, I had a chipped tooth like Katie in my book. Now, I’m a grandma. I have worn false teeth for many years. On two separate occasions, my false teeth have taken flight.

The first time was at a party, in a club with the band playing “Twist and Shout”. My date and I were on a hot, crowded dance floor talking over the music. Unbeknownst to me, my mouth dried out, I took in a gulp of air and my upper plate flew from my mouth to the floor. Fortunately, the club was dimly lit; I twisted down to the floor, picked up my teeth, slid them into my pocket, twisted up to a standing position and scurried off the dance floor toward the restroom.

Years later, married, with a family. In a heated argument with my middle son, it happened again. Same thing, dry mouth, gulp of air, and out they flew. After a second or two of shock, my son and I laughed so hard the argument was completely forgotten. I have had first-hand experience with flying false teeth.

A portion of the fictional story is about cherry cream pies that my husband makes (true); planting a seed idea for this book. For our monthly church potluck lunch, my husband had made two cherry cream pies. There was an elderly, gray-haired lady who after eating her lunch went to get a piece of the pie. Just as she got to the table, the last piece was whisked away. Upset, she marched over to our table, plopped down in a chair, and said, “Some little blond-headed boy took the last piece of pie. I really wanted that pie!” My husband and I made the appropriate sympathetic faces. He told her, “I will bring you a pie of your very own next Sunday.” Later, we laughed all the way home, somewhat embarrassed. The little blond-headed boy was one of our sons.

I have rewritten this book six or seven times. In fact, I began writing it even before I wrote my first published children’s book, My Air Force Mom, and it has taken years to get it just right. It eventually evolved as a book that shows children may choose to use humor to diffuse a situation with bullies. As my husband is fond of saying, this book was a ten-year “overnight” success.

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Mary Lee’s first published children’s book My Air Force Mom, a winner in the Children’s Fiction Category of the 73^rd Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition, was released in 2007.  Mary’s second children’s book, When Grandma’s False Teeth Fly was released February 2012.  This book won the Silver Medal Award from the Military Writers Society of America for the Children under 12 and it was chosen as the Reader’s Favorite Book Finalist Award for Children K-3^rd grade category.  It is also available on Kindle and available in Spanish.  Mary’s third book, The ABC’s of Titles for Tiny Tales, is scheduled for release in the spring of 2014. Mary obtained a Masters Degree in Social Work at the University of South Carolina.  She enjoys reading, movies, writing, and acting.  Mary and her husband Chuck currently reside in Columbia, South Carolina. Visit http://marylee.tateauthor.com   www.facebook.com/AuthorMaryLee