Turning Tragedy Into Triumph: How Rich Bergeron Turns Raw Life Into Stories That Resonate

Photo: Rich Bergeron: A Wordsmith With a Purpose, Inspired by Life, Driven by Truth, and Transforming Stories Into Impactful Journeys.

A Life Shaped By Loss, A Career Driven By Storytelling, And A Mission To Inspire Through Truthful Narratives

Rich Bergeron shares his journey from personal tragedy to celebrated storytelling, blending journalistic precision with human connection to craft transformative narratives focused on truth, identity, addiction, and redemption.

A t Novelist Post Magazine, we pride ourselves on sharing the journeys of those who have mastered the nuances of storytelling. In this issue, we are thrilled to feature Rich Bergeron, a writer, editor, and advocate with over 25 years of experience shaping narratives that not only inform but inspire and transform. From ghostwriting impactful memoirs to unearthing and addressing hidden societal truths, Rich’s work is imbued with authenticity, passion, and an unyielding commitment to storytelling that resonates.

Having honed his expertise across platforms as diverse as military history, sports journalism, and addiction recovery, Rich brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to storytelling. His ability to balance journalistic precision with deeply human emotions and his dedication to the art of mentorship through storytelling make him a formidable voice in the literary world.

In this exclusive interview, Rich delves into his creative process, shares the challenges and triumphs that have shaped his career, and offers invaluable advice to aspiring writers eager to create their own unforgettable narratives. His poignant approach and unwavering honesty are sure to inspire readers to find the courage in telling their own stories and connecting with others through shared human experiences.

Interview Highlights:

• How personal tragedy inspired Rich’s lifelong passion for storytelling.
• Insight into crafting emotive narratives and balancing truth with creativity.
• Challenges faced while co-authoring a groundbreaking non-fiction series on addiction and recovery.
• The critical role of mentorship and human connection in storytelling.
• Lessons from working with The American Legion and MMA magazines.
• The significance of legal writing and storytelling’s capacity for social impact.
• Advice for aspiring authors: tap into emotion, ask the right questions, and show rather than tell.

How did your career in journalism and narrative storytelling begin, and what inspired you to pursue this path?   

A. I read voraciously as a child. I was the only kid in class who actually enjoyed reading out loud in Cahtholic school. I also had plenty of tragedies that shaped my youth, none more than the death of my mother when I was just six years old. Finding out she was a writer and a nurse drove me to do the writing she couldn’t do with the time I had left that she didn’t. 

“My best writing as a teen came from confronting the gaping,
catastrophic loss my mother’s death represented.”
– Rich Bergeron

My best writing as a teen came from confronting that gaping, catastrophic loss my mother’s death represented. I also had to go back over all the gritty, ugly details of how she died in a court case that unfolded during my high school years. My family sued the main doctor who treated my mother for negligence. 

Complicated legal matters and highly dramatic literary pursuits have defined my career and my life thus far. But it’s all based on the raw, real, emotional state of being human. 

What is your process for transforming raw life experiences into emotionally resonant and polished narratives? 

A. I strongly believe in the old quote: “Good artists create. Great artists steal.” I also don’t like stuffy, traditional writing. I break the rules when I can for effect. I tap into motivations, personal character, history, and subject matter when I tell a story. I cover every angle I can. 

“Human connection is the goal of mentorship and recovery.
Nobody gets out of the abyss alone.”
– Rich Bergeron

Can you share some challenges you’ve faced while co-authoring books at the Magical Journey Network? 

A. Getting the vision off the ground in the early stages of this seems daunting. We’re trying to be the standard bearer for mentorship. We’re trying to tell an incredibly vivid story of addiction and pain leading to recovery and healing over four non-fiction volumes. The most significant challenge I face is doing the story justice and putting out a literary product I can be proud of that will truly help all the people who read it.  

How do you balance journalistic precision with the emotive aspects of transformational storytelling?

A. Sometimes a memorable quote in a story is better coming from your own imagination instead of real life. Sometimes a critical moment of childhood development is too painful to relive for an interview subject, and you have to put yourself in his or her shoes and speculate. I pride myself on how accurate my storytelling is and how closely I typically stick to the facts, but sometimes a little embellishing goes a long way without obscuring the underlying moral of the story.  

“A great writer shows how the story unfolds bit by bit,
piece by piece.”
– Rich Bergeron

What role do mentorship and human connection play in the storytelling approach of Magical Journey Network? 

A. Human connection is the goal of mentorship. It’s also the goal of recovery. Many addicts tend to hide their addictions and wallow in quiet shame. They don’t want anyone to know who they really are. Each of us has to be proud of our contributions to the world to really achieve happiness in life. Human connection, like what happens in AA meetings, can be massively instrumental in dragging another person out of despair. Seeing someone else who is literally feeling your pain can be life-changing. One thing we stress at Magical Journey Network is that nobody gets out of the abyss alone. It’s not a do-it-yourself situation. The same can be said about storytelling. You can’t tell any good story without involving well-developed characters that readers can relate to. Those human connections between those characters are the heart of every decent story ever told. Mentorship built this story and demands that this story be a clarion call to readers to become mentors themselves or seek mentors out for help.  

Could you share insights into crafting stories that explore complex themes like addiction, identity, and redemption? 

A. Sometimes chronological order is overrated. Drama rules the roost in writing, so throw the reader off with flashbacks, looks ahead, recurring themes, and shifting the real timeline around for effect. 

You can’t just tell your readers that your main character hit “Rock Bottom” to write a great story about addiction. That bland description won’t help you continue the ensuing powerful narrative about identity and redemption that typically follows an addict’s successful recovery. Instead, you have to show what rock bottom really entails in raw, horrific, and extremely meticulous detail. The cold sweats. The shakes. Being painfully sober and opening your eyes to the deep hole you’ve put yourself in thanks to your addiction. 

How has your work with publications such as The American Legion Magazine and Ultimate MMA influenced your narrative style? 

A. Getting published in magazines can sometimes be a challenge. You have to bring exactly the right content at exactly the right time to qualify for publication in most magazines. The American Legion story was the only magazine article I was actually personally recruited for. I wrote one major article for them that paid well and came out as a central feature of the edition it appeared in. I enjoyed working with the editors there to present Frank Zalot’s miraculous wartime story. I worked with the MMA magazine for a longer term, interviewing multiple fighters for feature stories. Talking to fighters frequently reminds me of my own fighting spirit. Storytelling can sometimes be a fight, too. Especially when you are a perfectionist like I am. 

What drives your passion for helping individuals and organisations “tell the truth well,” and what does that mean to you?

A. One of my favorite sayings is “the truth will shine through in the end.” I went to three different military schools in my college years (Air Force Academy, Norwich University, and Virginia Military Institute), and all of them observed an “honor code” where lying, cheating, and stealing were all strictly forbidden and could see you removed from the school entirely. I consider my integrity to be my most admirable quality. 

How do you ensure that the values of honesty, presence, and lived experience are reflected in your work? 

A. I have always gone out of my way to be as honest as possible in life, and that transcends into my writing style as well. It also feeds my desire to expose hard truths people have been lying about or covering up for generations. 

Which of your individual projects or stories has had the most profound personal impact on you, and why? 

A. Planbjustice.com gave me an avenue to express my creativity that was perfectly tailored to my talent. It showed me that I could tackle tough local political stories and get people talking: from the base citizen and taxpayer to the highest levels of local and state government leadership. The site is one of my most popular outlets, because it highlights the poignant stories of select groups of dedicated locals who all wanted the world to know about all the shady things going on behind the scenes in their municipalities. The crooked lawyers I exposed on the site ended up facing real consequences for their actions and inactions. I received the best possible feedback for my efforts to explain small-town scandals there. 

How do you approach the legal and grant writing aspects of your role while maintaining focus on the creative storytelling side? 

A. Knowing the legal and grant side of writing can be the difference between success and failure. Where technical stuff might put a sour taste in the mouth of other writers, I enjoy learning the process of grant writing and the science of grant seeking. Also, it is always good to have a solid familiarity with the legal framework that surrounds the writing profession. There are contracts, royalty agreements, copyrights, intellectual property disputes, and a whole host of other legal issues that are critical to understand in a writer’s career. If you’re tackling subjects that could easily turn the public against a group or individual, the interest you’re attacking typically finds a way to bring you to court. Knowing how to represent myself in court and how to avoid putting out facts I can’t prove keeps me from worrying about anyone who might challenge my writing. 

What advice would you give to aspiring authors and narrative strategists who aim to create meaningful, lasting stories? 

Just ask the right questions. Tap into emotions. Too many writers get caught in a cycle of not being descriptive enough. Anyone can tell a story, but a great writer can show how a compelling story actually unfolds bit by bit and piece by piece.