This is the question I was going to ask. Well, almost. I was wondering if I should turn my life story into a novel? Turns out, I should. I do have a story to tell... but I was wondering what form that story should take. After reading all these comments, I'm more convinced that I should do it than ever.
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Yes is my answer. Last week I wrote a scene in a hospital that brings a grandson and his grandmother together. She is dying. They argue and he speaks hurtful words. This is the last time he sees her. This scene was initially written 15 years ago. My own mother passed away last week. Different circumstances but still too close. No bad words between us. Our last words were only of love. This experience was tough and as a family we are struggling. But a writer I am. A writer I will be. Mum accepted me. Supported me. The feelings are real and I ploughed them into my story. Therapy of a kind. I advise you to write about what YOU know. Birth. Love making. Death. Driving. Hate
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Yes, but remember a novel isn't a memoir. Real life isn't always neat enough to make a good story. A fabricated plot is often a better way to convey the emotions and "truths" that you want to get across. Start with personal experiences and ask yourself what aspect of those experiences you most want to get across, then come up with a story that gets those aspects across in the clearest way, even if that means departing widely from "what actually happened." As a simple example: you go to a particular city and want to get across the atmosphere of the place. If you went there and wandered around as a tourist, that's not a good story, so describing what actually happened won't convey the city's atmosphere, because the reader will lose interest. If you make up a thriller set in the city, you can bring in all the atmosphere and places that you observed through personal experience, but you get it across while holding the reader's attention with a thrilling tale.