But It Really Happened That Way!

Real-life incidents aren't all that useful in fiction, in my experience, because real life just sort of happens.  Basing a piece of fiction too closely on real-life events and experiences all too often results in stories that don't work, and which the author justifies by saying "But it really happened that way!" 

"It really happened" is just about the worst justification for having something happen in fiction that you can have, because fiction, unlike real life, has to make sense.  People...