posted
I would like to include real, momentous experiences I have had into my stories. But I am concerned about what the nature of the story might imply to family and friends about the real experiences.
I am concerned about hurting feelings.
How have others dealt with this problem?
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited October 14, 2004).]
posted
I think the answer to your question is "yes."
Stephen R. Donaldson's best-known character is Thomas Covenant. Covenant was based on Donaldson's childood experiences while his father, a surgeon in India, was treating victims of leprosy. According to his official biography Donaldson lived this way from ages three to sixteen. I can only imagine that growing up around lepers was momentous, and at least a little traumatic.
Thomas Covenant himself is a leper. Donaldson makes no secret of the fact that Covenant was based on these experiences. I haven't read any of these stories, but I know they are famous and popular in certain circles.
Were any lepers in India offended by Donaldson's books? I doubt it.
It's not a very good answer to your question, but I believe this is an example of someone who has dealt with the problem you describe. Donaldson's solution was to publish on a different continent, where the people who influenced his stories were unlikely to read them.
And I wonder if the answer isn't in backing away from the experience enough, in writing about it, that the deep emotions of it are distant enough to not interfere with the quality of writing.
Hmm. Let me see if I can state that more clearly.
I once wrote a story about an issue very raw on my nerves. It sucked. So maybe, if I take a different tack on it, making into something that is farther from that painful truth, not only might it be better, it might also be so far from the truth that the people who might be hurt by it won't recognize it.
posted
I love to include characters and experiences from my life in my writing. I have even gone out of my way to base a character on someone I know as a type of flattery.
Depending on the experiences you want to write about, changing the names of the people involved can be enough. If it is a particularly sensitive subject, talk to the people who might be affected by it so it won't catch them off guard when they see it in print.
posted
Well, I have a whole book in the works where I've taken characters directly from family members, including the main character. What I did was before I started writing it, I asked all of them if it was ok I did something like that, and then also warned them that whatever I wrote about them was them but not them. Certain personality traits I would use for their character but that their character would not act exactly as they would act. Since its a book written more in the Young Adult vein it seems not to bother anyone about how I've written their characters so far (and believe me I come from a family of hyper-sensitive drama queens).
Posts: 66 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
This is a variant on a theme that's been asked about before, and the only real answer is "be careful".
You can do this, and it can be very effective, but make sure you either have everyone's permission first, or that you've made siginificant changes such that the people from which the story is taken are not clearly recognizable.
Potential lawsuits aside, you never know how someone will interpret what you've written.
"You think I act like THAT?"
A lot of hurt feelings or 'weirdness' could happen:
A novel I wrote, then later scrapped, was based on this. It stemmed from experiences in my life that were very personal, and even though i changed the setting entirely, the references were clear. I changed the main character and some of the others, but the references were still clear. This got me into a lot of trouble as people assumed that the the main character felt the same way I do about things, which wasn't true. I had let the story, and thus the characters, develop into their own.
So I realized I couldn't go through with it. ONE person has read it completely and loved it. They don't count. I've had a couple editors and other peers read several chapters of it with compliments. But the original draft had a sort of "why should we care" feel to it. When I spiced it up for interest and added some new tension, it made the story great, but really made people wonder what I think about them.
You can only argue "artistic license" to a certain point.
So you can use your life EXPERIENCES, but use either completely new and unique characters to base the story on, or make sure you have permission from those involved.
posted
I'm thinking of that episode of Voyager where the Doctor decides to write a holonovel
Seriously, my solution is to let everyone know that I'm not holding back my "true feelings" to write them in a story. Anyone that thinks to get something from my writing that I wouldn't say straight is a fool. Of course, the precursor to that solution is to not be concerned about hurting feelings. So it might not work if avoiding hurting anyone's feelings is the issue.
posted
Welcome to the writing life. You have to write as if your family and friends will never read your work. If you hold back, your writing will suffer. I vaguely remember reading a quote from a friend of James Joyce (I think it was him, anyway) who was loathe to visit with Joyce because he never knew if any of what he said or did would wind up in a story of Joyce's.
It doesn't have to be so obvious, where if it weren't for the different name, the character is exactly like someone you know. Mix things up. Combine traits and speech patterns and actions from many people to help flesh out your characters.
You simply cannot be a slave to what other people think about your work or be worried that they'll be offended.
posted
Thankyou people, I suspected as much. I have a friend who appeared in another friend's novel that became very popular and sold well, (in Australia).
The author had disguised people really well, or so he thought. But he had not spoken to my first friend about it at all. But neither did he think it would ever really be published, or that this first friend would ever read it.
However, it was published and she did read it, and she doesn't talk to him anymore.
But then, I don't think he cares much.
So RJZELLER I guess you are right, you can't control what aspects of the story will be interpreted in what way, and SURVIVOR I guess you are right too.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited October 18, 2004).]
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