Writing Fiction That Turns Out To Be Real
Writing fiction that turns out to be real is shocking. The other day, I read Tom Clancy’s 5 big rules for writing and life. One of the statements in his post struck a chord.
“I hang my hat on getting as many things right as I can,” said Clancy. “I’ve made up stuff that’s turned out to be real—that’s the spooky part.”
Yes, when writing fiction that turns out to be real, it is spooky. It happened to me. Never mind that the ghosts in my debut novel, A Cry From The Deep, had nothing to do with the fact that what I wrote turned out to be real.
When I wrot
e A Cry From The Deep, I had the delicious job of coming up with a story out of my head. I can’t even remember why I made my protagonist, Catherine Fitzgerald, an underwater photographer. I know it was partly because the seed of my story contained a shipwreck off the coast of Ireland in the 19th century, one that needed further exploration.
Since the 19th c. English barque went down in a storm off the coast of Ireland, that was the area I needed to research.
Well, lo and behold, I discovered that that coastline was full of wrecks, many from the Spanish Armada of 1588, the mighty fleet that tried to get home after a mighty battle with the British.
Finding out that all the ships hadn’t been found, I decided that Catherine would be invited to cover the hunt for one of the lost Spanish ships by the notorious salvager, Kurt Hennesey. He is determined that somewhere in that murky deep lies a ship loaded with gold.
Spanish Armada cannon recovered off the coast of County Sligo (Credit: Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht)
Well, imagine my surprise when another ship from the Spanish Armada was recently found by divers off the coast of Ireland.
With no plan to write a prophetic story, it turns out I wrote one. Love this turn of events.
For more, check out A Cry From The Deep, a romantic mystery with a good dose of adventure and the paranormal, available at all the major booksellers.
Have you had an experience where what you wrote turned out real? If you have, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear your story.
Is there perhaps a prophetic follow-up novel in the works?
I’ve thought of it, Jo-Anne, maybe down the road. A follow-up one but not a prophetic one. As Tom Clancy said, it’s spooky when that happens. I would begin to wonder if that happened more than once. 🙂
That is an awesome coincidence! Now you have my interest peaked. It sounds like a fun book!
I thought the same thing. I was surprised when the BBC came out with their story.
Much as I’m not a fan of Tom Clancy, his 5 rules for writing are right on the money, especially about telling a story first and foremost, then getting the details accurate.
Your examples of fiction that turned out to be real are truly uncanny. I have an example or two, but they are mild in comparison.
My practice tends to be the opposite: I borrow from historical events that really happened, that I know about, then I embellish and present in a fictional context.
Bryan, I’m also not a fan of Tom Clancy’s but that means little as I’ve never read any of his works. But like you, I like his 5 rules for writing. Thanks for visiting again.