I’m excited to share a guest post by Margarita Barresi, author of A DELICATE MARRIAGE. Take it away Margarita!
Write what you know, they say, and I set out to do just that. I’ve always wanted to tell the story of my grandparents—he a poor boy from the mountains and she a wealthy debutante in 1930s Puerto Rico. The machinations my grandmother’s father went through to keep them apart were comical, but true love persevered. And, because I’m an avid historical fiction reader, I also wanted to tell their story within the framework of what was happening politically on the island at that time. Forty years after Puerto Rico became a U.S. colony was a time of great change and challenges.
I knew I had all the elements of a great story, and after taking several novel writing and other craft classes, I felt ready to write it. I read advice from authors about writing from real life. They all agreed that writers should remove themselves from the story. That part was easy for me, as I was born years after the tale I wanted to tell ends. One less thing to worry about.
The people on whom I based several of the characters in A Delicate Marriage—including my two protagonists, Isa and Marco— were long gone, so I didn’t need to seek out permission or worry about how I depicted them. I’d known my grandparents well, had lived with them, and witnessed both their joyful and darker sides. As an adult, I found I could view them even more objectively. But when it came to making the characters feel real, I had to veer somewhat from the truth.
The first thing I did was change their appearance so when I imagined Marco and Isa, they did not look like my grandparents. I mean, these two characters are hot for each other, and imagining my grandparents as randy twenty-somethings was too icky. It was easier to think of actors playing the roles of my grandparents, so I surrounded myself with images of what I wanted them to look like. When I think about Marco and Isa they don’t physically resemble my grandparents in the least.
Historical fiction, by definition, must be based on real events and I conducted extensive research to bring 1930s to 1950s Puerto Rico to life. However, I realized there were missing gaps in my grandparent’s story. For instance, I couldn’t remember ever learning how they met. They came from vastly different social strata, so how did their worlds intersect? Everyone in my family who might know the answer had either died or didn’t remember. So, I filled in the gap, imagining a scenario where Isa and Marco could plausibly meet. While you can’t make up history, you can make up the story you’re telling within the history.
I also needed to pare down the real-life cast of characters. Puerto Rican families are huge and including everyone who participated in my grandparents’ romance would have been too confusing for readers. I focused on the most important players or created composite characters based several people. Similarly, I had to pick and choose which events from history and my grandparents’ story to highlight. History happens daily, and including every little detail muddles up a story. Painting broad strokes is much easier on the reader and the writer, too.
Lastly, although my grandparents had to fight for their love, they eventually lived happily ever after. If I told that story, it would be fraught with tension at the start and then peter off into the banal. To make a good story great, I had to invent a very different path for Isabella than the one my grandmother followed. That was extremely freeing, because although based on a real person, Isabella finally became my own creation.
So go ahead and base characters on real people, particularly if they’re already dead. But do make them your own.
About Author Margarita Barresi
Raised in Puerto Rico by her grandparents, Margarita Barresi grew up hearing stories about the “good old days”—the genesis for this, her first novel. She studied public relations at Boston University, and after a successful career in marketing communications, now devotes her time to writing. Her essays have been published in several literary magazines and compilations. Margarita lives in the suburbs north of Boston with her husband and two Puerto Rican cats, Luna and Rico.
Learn more at www.margaritabarresi.com.
Instagram: @margaritabarresi
X/Twitter: @Barresi_Writes
