Writing for Lives

For most of college I have been writing fiction. I have been creating fictional characters leading fictional lives. Their actions are all the creations of my imagination. I decide what consequences their actions have. 
Therefore, writing an honest piece of non-fiction was initially a huge challenge for me. Suddenly I could not lie or expand in depth about a fictional character. What a dilemma. From writing this piece, I learned some valuable things, though. I was forced to judge closely the way my memory recalled certain events- such as that day I waited in an endless line to cross a bridge. Expanding on one event and taking it into another narrative about my hometown in general was also a great challenge. I still think I can improve on this. Through this piece I wanted to convey the problematic way I view my home town. My love for where I grew up is real, but it is not unconditional. I wanted to take the absurdity of an ambulance having to wait for a bridge to close and relate it to the greater theme of island life in general. This technique will be made more clear through a series of close revisions, looking at how each sentence is functioning in the piece as a whole. I want to further elaborate on the complex beauty of my hometown while expanding on this greater theme.