Fact or Fiction?

Many good stories are based on personal experience.  So writers are often advised to “Write what you know.” But personal experiences usually are not structured like good fiction. So fiction writers are also advised not to let the truth interfere with a good story. My next short story here starts out as a personal memoir–but has a fictional ending. The swan really did crash into the bridge, and the cop really did start to arrest me. However,the swan was not resurrected nor beaten to death by the constable..