Fran Cannon Slayton author, dreamer

WRITE YOUR OWN FAMILY HISTORY FICTION
Download Fran Cannon Slayton’s
Family History Fiction Exercise Here

1. Ask an older family relative to tell you a true story about something they did when they were growing up. You might ask your mother or father, aunts, uncles, older cousins, or grandparents.
2. Ask your relative where the event happened; how she felt as the event was happening; what happened as a result of the event; whether she would do it again; and what she wishes had happened that didn’t. Be sure to ask other questions you want to know the answers to, too!
3. If possible, go to the place where the event occurred. If this is not possible, try to find pictures of the place. If this is not possible, ask your relative(s) to describe the place to you and imagine it in your mind. What is the dominant characteristic of the setting? What is different about the place now than when the event occurred? Try to imagine the place as it was back then.
4. Now think about the event that occurred. Ask your relative how he or she felt about it – both when it was happening and now. Was it funny? Sad? Poignant in some way? Think about how you would have felt in her situation if you had gone through the event.
5. Close your eyes and imagine the event as if you were watching a movie.
6. Close your eyes and imagine the event as if you were actually experiencing what happened right now. If you would like to change something about the story, you can do that in your mind. This is your story now. Let your imagination go.
7. Write down what you imagined as a story written in first person present tense, as if you are experiencing the event right now and are telling about it as it happens.
8. This is very much like what I did when I wrote When the Whistle Blows. Now you have your very own piece of family history fiction!

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