Humorous, sad, terrifying, or poignant, writing lies from truth becomes less that of invention and more of an exercise in skillfully adjusting truth so it’s palatable as fiction.

I take a lot of my story and novel ideas from real life. For example:

Suffering bad writing and patently predictable stories is something I don’t do well. Now, I admit, what is bad writing and “same ol’ story” to me might be something that others find laudable. I also admit that I don’t read everything that’s published, not by half (not even a quarter of it), so I can’t [...]

 
“Different” — that’s a word that stood out in my “private and confidential” school records.  Private and confidential?  Not when they tell you…and everybody else what’s in there when pointing out the whys and wherefores of being passed over for something you very much want to do.  I’ve been stuck with that label my whole [...]

I came across a title over at a critique group that rung a bell.  I was very sure that I’d seen this title before.  I took a peek.  Yep.  I had seen this one before.  Some four or five years previous.  Same title, same start, same exact story, different critique venue, but same flaws. 
…Same flaws. [...]

Well, it’s been a lo-ong haul, getting back in the saddle, again.  While I’m writing, what I’m writing isn’t fiction.  It’s articles and reviews.  Right now, aside from submitting articles to some online magazines, I’m critiquing two novel manuscripts for their authors.  Doing this allows me to ease back into working on my own novels. [...]