CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “A Memoir or a Novel - How Does One Decide Which Way to Craft a Story Based on Real Life Events?” by Lorilyn Roberts

 Recently on a Linked-In discussion group, someone made this comment:  

“I’m strongly biased toward fiction unless you are trading on celebrity or some highly publicized event. Memoirs put out as imparting the wisdom of the elders or holding up your past mistakes as object lessons turn me off. The fact you were a moron yesterday doesn’t make you a genius today. Journals and memoirs may be great for family but most are less attractive to a general audience and often convey the message of pleading to be loved or admired. Make it fiction and you can be more candid and the reader can decide whether your experience was informative, moving or amusing based on its own merits.” 

I strongly disagree with his statement and share the following thoughts:

Memoirs are some of the most powerful pieces written today, but people are shortsighted. They don’t always see the value of first-hand accounts in the present. Without memoirs, we have history written by partial observers who bring their own worldview into play—maybe at the expense of writing with accuracy the way the events actually happened. Second-hand accounts are never as factual as first-hand stories and never as valuable for historical purposes. 

Many people love reading memoirs and will look for them in libraries and bookstores. Life experiences written by people reveal more about society than any history book or journalist covering a story. I am thankful for all the memoirs written today by all sorts of people to give us a peek into the present and the past.

For example, the world never would have known of Anne Frank if she had not written her diary. She was an unknown 13-year-old kid before her father published her diary.

If you have a compelling story to tell, tell it with passion, revealing your innermost struggles and thoughts. Being “real” with the reader will make your story come alive. In my memoir Children of Dreams about the international adoption of my daughters, I was open and vulnerable. That was the right way to tell that story. I could never have fictionalized it. 

I just wrote another book and this one is fiction, Seventh Dimension - The Door. In contrast with Children of Dreams, I took certain events from my own life and turned them into fantasy. I had a story to tell and the only way to tell it was as allegory and to fictionalize it. The point being, do what the story calls for and write it. Don’t let naysayers talk you out of writing your story the way you feel it needs to be told. At the end of the day, you have to live with the result and be happy with the story and the way you wrote it. 

These are some thoughts I would consider:  Who is your target audience? What is your purpose in writing your story? Can anyone be hurt or impacted negatively if you write your book as a memoir? If you write your story as a memoir in hopes of making money, you need to write your book as “creative nonfiction,” using fictional techniques.

For example, you need a beginning, a middle, and an end. You need to think in terms of “scenes” and “plot” and “problems” that need to be solved. The reader needs a takeaway—what can he learn from your memoir that would be meaningful or cathartic? No one wants to read someone’s boring biography.

If you decide to write your book as fiction, you will have more options and won’t run the risk of being sued or worried about divulging something you might regret later. However, you need the skills to write fiction. Writing fiction is harder than writing a memoir because you have to create “story” out of fiction and make the plot enticing to read. In a future piece, I will suggest some books for writing fiction that I used in my Masters in Creative Writing that I found helpful. 

I have written an award-winning piece on writing memoir that is posted on my website. Here is the link for anyone interested. Some might find it helpful. How to Write a Memoir in Twelve Easy Steps.

The most important thing as a writer is to keep writing and to keep learning—whether you write fiction, nonfiction, or memoir, and enjoy the journey!

FREE ON ALL EBOOK PLATFORMS: “Seventh Dimension – The Door: A Young Adult Fantasy,” by Lorilyn Roberts

For every child who struggles with doubt, for every kid who has been bullied, for every teen who comes from a broken home, and for every young adult who longs to be understood - there is hope.


Best-selling author Lorilyn Roberts shares once again the power of redemption in this Christian coming-of-age novel. Written in first-person, Seventh Dimension - The Door reads like a first-hand account by a young girl, Shale Snyder, who is treated unfairly by her family, school, and classmates. Fear distorts her sense of self-worth and she is enveloped with guilt because of a secret from her past. 

While on a sojourn similar to Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, Shale discovers talking animals and a handsome young man with whom she falls in love. Her journey is one of self-discovery as she battles personal demons, family conflict, and wicked underlings, and comes face-to-face with a personal decision she must make - bound up in the king she meets in first-century Israel.


“I spent two years developing the plot,” says Roberts, “as part of my Masters in Creative Writing. I love the classics, particularly books by Charles Dickens, Fydor Dostoevsky, Emily Bronte, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien. I hoped to provide an entertaining story that would evoke deep spiritual longing.” 

Roberts adds, “I was a troubled child from a broken home on the road to juvenile delinquency - until I met the king.”

About Author

Lorilyn Roberts lives in Gainesville, Florida, with her two daughters from Nepal and Vietnam. Manisha’s and Joy’s adoption stories were told in her bestselling memoir Children of Dreams. Part of her family’s memoir was featured on Discovery Channel’s Monsters Inside Me.


Seventh Dimension - The Door
A Young Adult Christian Fantasy
LORILYN ROBERTS
November 2012/Mass Market Original/Fiction
$11.77
ISBN 9781480153905

Seventh Dimension - The Door, A Young Adult Christian Fantasy
(Create Space, $11.77, 230 pages, 6 X 9, paperback, ISBN: 978-
1480153905), is available at neighborhood and online booksellers
(Amazon). For more information, visit
LorilynRoberts.com

BOOK REVIEW: “Seventh Dimension – The Door: A Young Adult Fantasy,” by Allbooks Reviewer Cecilia Lee

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Author: Lorilyn Roberts

Title: Seventh Dimension – The Door

This book is about our need for ultimate love and understanding. Set in today’s society where self-doubt, bullying, broken homes and brokenness is rampant, this book is a must-read.                  

Seventh Dimension – The Door is a touching story about a hurt young girl who finds the ultimate love of the king.

Meet Shale Snyder. She is an emotionally and psychologically injured girl – after many years of torment at school and abandonment at home, she is left empty and hollow inside. She feels misunderstood. She has an internal longing, but for what she doesn’t know!

One day, she is transported to a happy, peaceful garden. She meets up with two talking animals: a fat, apple-loving donkey and a cute, sweet rabbit, who tell her she is in the “king’s garden”. However, a hint of evil disrupts the serenity of the garden, and while trying to escape from the menacing presence, they, she and a dog whom she has known before get transported to another world in the 7^th dimension through a door, hence the title of this book, Seven Dimension – The Door.

Our heroine has several adventures in the 7^th dimension. There are many weird things there – like a boy who is also from her world, except 3 years into her future! She learns the king of the garden is there. She wants to find out more about him and wants to meet him. However, she has to deal with issues within herself as they stand in the way of her ability to receive the king’s love. Finally, the story builds to an ending climax where she is given the ultimate test.

You have to read this book to find out who the giver of this amazing love is; who can mend a broken heart, love unconditionally, understand unceasingly, and fill the void in our hearts. You will be surprised to find out what our heroine has been longing for all along. Also, read about all the curious circumstances in the 7^th Dimension.

You won’t be able to put this book down until you reach the end. The author, Lorilyn Roberts, has this incredible ability to build suspense until the climax in the end. Don’t cheat and read the ending first because the journey into the 7^th Dimension is just, if not, more compelling and spellbinding. Bon voyage!

Cecilia Lee, Reviewer, Allbooks Review International

Title: Seventh Dimension – The Door

Author: Lorilyn Roberts

Publisher: Rear Guard Publishing

ISBN-13:978-1480153905

Dec. 2012

To order Seventh Dimension - The Door, click here