How I Turn Real-Life Chaos Into Fictional Drama

Chaos seems to follow me around like it knows my name, habits, and schedule. Maybe it’s the universe testing me, maybe it’s just life being life, but one thing I’ve learned is this: chaos doesn’t just wreck my days, it also fuels my writing. It's the one constant that, unfortunately, I have come to rely on. 

The bills pile up, the car breaks down, my son gets sick, my husband checks out when I need him the most, and instead of falling apart (okay, sometimes after I fall apart, but very few people get to see that), I put it on the page. Because here’s the truth: all that raw, jagged chaos makes for some damn good fiction. Because no one would believe that it was once reality.

That betrayal you read in my mafia stories? That comes from real-life betrayals, the ones that still sting when I think about them. But this is the only way I can process all the shit without ending up as the next story on SNAPPED. 

That exhaustion pouring out of a character’s inner monologue? Yeah, that’s me at midnight folding laundry after a day that chewed me up, and everyone complaining they don’t have clothes or socks for the next day.

That moment when a character finally snaps and says the thing they’ve been holding in for years? That’s pulled straight from my own throat, the words I sometimes don’t get to say out loud, because no one would believe me. After all, I don’t fit within the narrative.

When people ask me how I make my stories feel so real, the answer is simple: because they are. Maybe not in every detail, but in spirit. Real fights, real fears, real frustrations. Writing doesn’t erase what I’ve lived through; it transforms it. It allows me to scream, cry, and beg for something or anything else to happen, even when reality can’t change.

And maybe that’s the magic of writing through chaos. In my life, I’m constantly reminded of how little control I have. But in my stories? I get to decide what happens. I get to pick who wins and who loses. I get to take the ugly, unfixable moments and turn them into something that matters. Well as long as my characters don’t go off on their own tirades. 

So, when the universe throws me a storm, I don’t always see it as punishment anymore, not really. Sometimes, I see it as research. I see it as an opportunity to do better. Regardless of how bad shit can be, it’s we who have control if we just take the damn bull by the horns. 

Be Brave, Be Bold, But Always Stay Humble