Can You Turn Tragedy into Worthwhile Fiction?

Much has been said of the cathartic power of writing. Even for people who aren't writers, writing out a story gives people the power to make sense of trauma and sadness. Writing can be an effective healing tool for those who have encountered grief or tragedy in their lives. Writing as catharsis, though, is only part of the picture. It leaves me wondering if work that comes out of such trauma or tragedy is ever any good.

Can writing that comes out of real-life sadness be as worthwhile as carefully thought-out, well-crafted fiction? While fiction can feel great for helping us heal, the fiction might not actually be quality writing. The pieces we write out of personal grief are often overblown, unrestrained, and choppy. Our rollercoaster emotions cause the tone and meter of the writing to suffer. Any sense of plotline is lost in the powerful waves of our sadness, anguish, or grief. It is often necessary to get these emotions out on the page. But as Wordsworth reflected, poetry isn't the stuff of that passionate emotion: he wrote that "poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." For Wordsworth, poetry comes from the well of deep emotion we feel, but it only becomes poetry when it is crafted in a moment of calm recollection. I would say that's a good thing to keep in mind.

So generally I agree with Wordsworth; it seems like the fiction we write in a moment of grief can help us through the grief, but it's not quality work by any measure. It is a necessary bridge to a time when we can feel calm again, ready to see what happened with clearer eyes. Save those pieces of writing as a record of your own personal experiences, but don't think they're the best simply because they have the most raw outpouring of emotion.

After the jump: how to turn that tragedy into quality writing.

So you're getting over something sad in your life, and you'd like to turn this experience into some quality fiction. What do you do to get started?

Let a little time pass

As Wordsworth indicated, the tragedy can't still be unfolding while you're writing. You're too close to it; you can't get perspective or a sense of scope. You can try taking a few notes about things that are happening, but if you're still wracked by emotion, your writing will suffer. So give yourself some time before you start the big novel or story. Think over things. Treat yourself well. Try to recover emotionally. And get some perspective.

Think about what it all really meant

We read sad stories because we want to learn about other people's lives and what tragedy really means to them. That means that the best stories based on real sadness have a sense of perspective and even a touch of analysis. It doesn't just throw the tragedy in our faces; it makes some attempt to raise the right questions about it, even if it doesn't have the answers. It makes us learn about our own lives and understand that other people are more like us than we thought.

Find the silver lining

This is why it's especially important to let a little time pass. We don't want the message to be "Life sucks and we're all prisoners of our sad experiences." This may be the way you feel in the thick of a personal tragedy. But when time passes, you can often find yourself willing to learn. If someone treated you horribly, you may be able to see that that person did his/her best. Or that people are flawed, but are still no more and no less than human. There is something profoundly hopeful in that idea for me, and you'll only be able to acess that perspective on a tragedy if you wait a little and do your best to see people the way they want to be, rather than judging them only for what they are.

Comments

[ebooks uk]

I will say that: If a tragedy actually happened to a person is carefully converted into writing then it becomes useful and interesting. Many stories seem like the "Same" but stories with some new things or some more twists catch attention.

[Mary Lou Wynegar]

I enjoyed your article, though to me, fiction is always just that, fiction. I am always wondering what real experience the author has on the subject.
For myself, if I were to ever write tragedy into words, it would have to be portrayed as fact. Or, at the very least - told that: "This is a true story written with different characters, names etc,... to protect the privacy of those written about." If that would therefore make it fiction?, then so be it.
And as much as it would be tempting to write your tragedy in a one-sided opinion, I feel as a writer it would present poor taste. For tragedy most always involves more than one party. And those involved are human too, whether they are ill, or well. And it is a writers responsibility to create the whole picture. A picture that almost always begins with a love in one form or another.