Is it Okay to Fictionalise a Memoir?

When writing your life story, there may be tricky parts that don’t feel right to talk about. Perhaps there may even be potential legal issues if you tell the whole truth, or maybe it’s a simple case of something happening so long ago that you can’t be fully sure you’re remembering all of the little details correctly.

Even if these concerns don’t apply, perhaps you simply feel that the style of a more typical memoir isn’t right for you, and you’d prefer to tell your story more like, well, a story.

In all of these cases, you may be wondering: is it okay to fictionalise a memoir?

When Fiction is Appropriate

In all of the situations we described above, it would be more than acceptable to offer a fictionalised version of events instead of a fully accurate play by play.

When there’s a part of your life you don’t feel you can, or should, talk about, you can simply pass over that time period and move on if you wish – or you could create a dream version of what you wished had happened in your life during that time. So long as it’s clear that this is not the real course of events, there’s nothing wrong with presenting an alternative.

If you’re avoiding legal issues, you will of course want to change the names of people and businesses in your memoir who may feel inclined to sue over a mention. If you’re the person who would be in legal hot water, it probably goes without saying that you will want to offer a fiction instead of incriminating yourself!

When events have passed into the mists of memory, well, you can’t be blamed for being a little vague on the details.

Style of Fiction for Memoir

There are a few different directions you could go in for fictionalising your memoir:

1. Present it as a memoir still, but gloss over or fictionalise some scenes while keeping others accurate to reality
2. Write a semi-autobiographical novel, meaning that the inspiration comes from your life but the details may have been changed to be more satisfying or dramatic in terms of the story
3. Create a fully fictionalised novel, not presenting it at all as the story of your life but bringing in some inspiration from the things you have experienced.

How to Cover Your Bases with a Fictionalised Memoir

Of course, you may worry about getting into a bit of trouble for making up parts of your memoir, or just making the stories a bit more cinematic.

There are ways you can cover your bases to ensure that there is no blowback when you publish your book. The last thing you would want is for people who were there at the time to come forward and accuse you of lying in your memoir, especially if you are a notable public figure.

In order to combat this, the solution is very simple. You just have to make it very clear that the book is fictionalised and not a fully accurate representation of events, but that some changes have been made. This can be done in the blurb, during the introduction or foreword, or even in the author’s note at the back of the book.

In Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, he admits:

“… So much about those days, and the months and years into which they slowly sorted themselves, has vanished, like those rounded, frosty puffs of breath. Faces, numbers, decisions that once seemed pressing and irrevocable, they’re all gone.”

This is a great way to explain that you’re not sure that everything you’re writing about is fully accurate, and serves to indemnify yourself against any errors being spotted later.

If it’s good enough for the founder of Nike, it’s probably good enough for just about anyone!

Finally, you can make things clear in the way you market your book, particularly in the choice of genre. Rather than calling it a memoir, you may prefer to call it a narrative non-fiction exploration of your life; you could also call it a semi-autobiographical novel. This last example is widely used and implies that while some parts of the story are based on your life, others are not. It’s not unusual for authors who use the semi-autobiographical tag to treat the central people in their novel as characters, renaming them and separating them fully from their own self and loved ones.

Whatever choice you make when it comes to the direction of your memoir, rest assured that no question is too outlandish and – it’s very likely – whatever you want to do has already been done before. Take this as reassurance that you are following in the footsteps of tried and tested authors who know what they are doing! If you need any more guidance while writing your memoir, you can hire me as your writing coach – or I can even write it for you. I’ve written plenty of fictionalised memoirs in my time, and I’d be happy to get stuck in on yours.