In other words, of course you can, but don't tell anyone that's what you did, and make sure that the original participants in the event(s) can't identify it and/or themselves.
posted
Are you afraid that no matter how you disguise it, the connection will still be so obvious that you'll get sued, or something? It's hard to believe that anything could be quite that unique.
Posts: 932 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Yes you can. I'm sure you've seen the commercials for tv crime dramas where they say "Ripped from the headlines". If that's what you want to do, go for it. Just try to put your own unique touch to it so that it's different.
If you want to use an event that happened to you or someone you know, try to sanitize it so that the parties involved don't see themselves when they read it. That can become sticky.
So, yes you can do it. What you're asking is how good stories are developed. You take an idea and run with it. If the idea is something you read about in the news, or something somone said. I wrote a short story, not published, whose idea was sparked by seeing an RV. It was a sci-fi story.
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I recently read a short story called The Whimper of Whipped Dogs by Harlan Ellison. (In the compilation The American Fantasy Tradition, edited by Brian M. Thomsen). You probably remember some years ago the story of the brutal murder of a woman that was witnessed by dozens of residents who watched, listened, and did nothing. Ellison took this incident and wrote an amazing tale that makes these "unmakers" into worshipers of an ancient dark power. Read it, think about what these people might think of Ellison's portrayal of them, then I think you might have your answer. Just be sure, as rickfisher said, that your character inspirations can't identify themselves.
Posts: 1672 | Registered: Apr 2004
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