Writing Fictional Stories Based on Real Events
A course by Lola Larra , Writer, Journalist, and Editor
Explore fiction within reality and create your own stories from the news, photos, and real events
If you're eager to investigate and tell stories based on real events, writer, journalist, and editor Lola Larra lets you in on the secrets. For her, a mixture of investigative journalism and literature allow for the observation of our surroundings through a more intimate and connected lens.
In this course, learn to write a story based on real events. Your teacher explains how to tackle the investigation process before guiding you through the writing step-by-step. Create narrators and characters, construct scenes, and develop an ending that transforms some of the story's coincidences into key details.
What will you learn in this online course?
14 lessons & 39 downloads
- 91% positive reviews (35)
- 885 students
- 14 lessons (2h 38m)
- 39 additional resources (18 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish · Romanian · Indonesian
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Write a short fiction narrative based on a real event taken from a news article. Your final piece can be a story, a poem, a comic, a children's book, or an illustrated tale.
Who is this online course for?
Anyone eager to tell stories and write.
Requirements and materials
There are no special requirements for this course, nor do you need any previous experience, just be eager to immerse yourself in the world of investigation and storytelling.
You only need some very basic tools: some newspapers or magazines (physical copies or online), paper or a computer installed with a word processing software and the pencils of your choice for writing, and a notebook.
Reviews
Lola Larra
A course by Lola Larra
Lola Larra was born in Santiago, Chile and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. After studying arts at the Andrés Bello Catholic University and then following a rock band across Latin America, she moved to Madrid where she worked for many years as a journalist. She was a writer and correspondent for a series of newspapers and magazines including Rolling Stone, Cinemanía, Colors, Vogue, Página 12, and El País.
14 years later, she returned to Chile, where she published Al sur de la Alameda, an illustrated novel inspired by Chile's 2006 student revolution. It has since been translated into various languages and won several awards. After extensive research, she later published Sprinters, a journalistic novel based on the Colonia Dignidad (Dignity Colony) case. She also currently works at her own publishing house, Ekaré Sur which publishes illustrated stories for children and young adults.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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Influences
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U2
Before writing
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How to Approach Writing: A Little Personal Manifesto
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Genres and Formats
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Choose a theme
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U3
Start working and writing
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Investigate
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To interview
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start typing 1
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start typing 2
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create characters
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stories and scenarios
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close the story
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U4
Finished the story... Now what?
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Correct, correct and correct again
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Collaborate With Others
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FP
Final project
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Writing Fictional Stories Based on Real Events
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
You’ll learn how to blend journalism and literary techniques to craft hybrid narratives, research real events, build complex characters, and explore the boundaries between fiction and reality.
Yes, the course is designed for students with prior knowledge or intermediate experience in literary or journalistic writing who want to deepen their skills in hybrid storytelling.
All you need is an interest in narrative or journalistic writing and a willingness to experiment with hybrid genres. No university degrees or professional experience required.
Yes, the course guides you through researching real events, gathering sources, and transforming news into literary stories using observation, interviews, and context analysis.
It includes exercises for practicing collaborative writing inspired by Wu Ming, as well as autofiction activities that explore vulnerability and personal voice in storytelling.
You’ll gain tools for preparing your manuscripts, tips for reaching out to publishers, and strategies to navigate the publishing process, especially within the Spanish market.
Yes, you’ll learn multiple proofreading techniques and editing criteria to enhance the accuracy, clarity, and flow of your stories and chronicles.
excelente curso, muy buena explicación. me gusto mucho y subiré mi proyecto, gracias por compartir su experiencia
eu escrevo creepypastas e este é um excelente curso introdutório sobre como escrever ficção a partir de histórias reais que é basicamente, como as creepypastas funcionam.
I found this to be one of the few courses on 'writing' that I didn't want to waste my time on finishing. It was misleading in the hype about it - it is so basic and in some sections, meaningless - I sincerely cannot recommend it - if you know anything about writing in this genre / field. I'm getting sick of the hype on this platform - by some people who really only know the basics or are not very good at what they do. The standard is low.
É um curso muito interessante e que até agora tenho seguido com atenção.
Sehr fundiert. Man lernt wirklich viel, und es macht Spaß!