My advice is to concentrate on developing real characters. They drive the story. If you can flesh them out enough so they feel real to you, it makes moving forward in the story easier - you'll know how they will react and what they'll do and it won't seem like fiction.

One trick for getting there is to write detailed bios for your characters so you know them better. Include some backstory so you have in mind WHY Lucinda is afraid to be alone and has three deadbolts on her door (for example).

As an exercise, create a bizarre or dramatic fictional situation and then use your family members as the characters. You know them and how they would react. The characters in the exercise are real, but what you write is still fiction. You'll be surprised how easy the story will be to write because you know the characters well.

The more real the characters feel and the more you know them, the easier fiction is to write.

Good Luck - Craven