To write more, less or not at all?

[Ravenclaw]

Hello to the people of the page!

 

As a "writer" I'm completely new here, though I've been following some authors over the past three years. My friends, however, have pushed me for a while now to go public with my own stuff.

 

I've written tons of short stories (never in English!) but I never published anything anywhere. Though the idea to let some strangers have a peek into my "talent" was more blocked by my own fear of criticism, than the need to vent out and take it to the next level.

 

There's something I always wanted to write about. Actually, I have a lot of it put down on paper already, but the thing is, that it's about a "chain of true events" that took place two years ago and I kind of played with the idea to use the real twelve gay, bi and straight people (which were part of those events) as my own characters and let them... well, play it all out. I was given consent to use their backgrounds and even to describe them in person, but was asked, naturally, to change their real names.

 

Looking back, I must say that the summer I'd like to write about, was one of the best times I ever had. And since I'm here on Gay Authors, I know I can get more creative and ignore all laws of physics and thermodynamics and let the characters go wild.

 

Now, here's the thing: I still wonder how far I should go, given the fact that those people really exist and that I am permitted to use some info about their real lives. Which brings me to the next question: should I go Mark Arbour and let them take on an adventure or Louisa May Alcott and make them sweet and mellow (which would be much less than what actually happened).

[The Pecman]

You can make a good case that some of the best novels ever written were based on or at least inspired by real events. My only caution is that real life very rarely makes a good story. Often, you need to dramatize certain events or amp it up in order to make it interesting as a story, and also to give the events a satisfying conclusion.

 

The annoying thing about real life is that not only are there sometimes no happy endings, but sometimes friendships just slowly evaporate over time, you lose track of people, events don't get resolved for weeks or months at a time... none of which is very interesting to read. I've occasionally read an interesting story online and commented to the author, "hey, loved the story, but I thought such-and-such was kind of a weird moment." And their answer is, "oh, it happened in real life just that way." They seem unable to comprehend that there are no rules that say you have to steadfastly adhere to the exact facts that happened in life. When it comes to storytelling, you can shift the events and characters in any direction you want, as long as it moves the story forward and makes it more interesting to the reader.

Edited September 27, 2014 by The Pecman

[Ben Highlander]

don't overthink it. you have permission. now write what comes out. stories write themselves once you start. let's see the pages

[Sasha Distan]

voice of experience: be aware that if you write about your friends, even if they've said you can, you can cause some serious tension within your friendship group. I lost people over a similar situation.

I'm not saying don't do it, just be really bloody careful.

[Krista]

You can give life to a story by implementing parts of yourself and others into it. Maybe you have this bubbly and outgoing friend that has been your center and calming influence. She or he has been a significant impacting factor within your life.  So, instead of taking that person and literally putting your life with them to paper - create a world around them that's entirely fiction and new and try to capture their likeness in a fictional character.  You are still telling the story you want to tell, you are still capturing those friends you obviously are very fond of.. you're just telling a story that isn't completely true anymore and in doing so you have protected their anonymity and hopefully told a good story. 

 

Like The Pecman said, real life isn't always so well defined and easily understood - especially by those looking in on someone else's life. If you try to describe situations and people, that are real - you can get way too bogged down in those details that 'you' find important. So much so, that the characters remain strangers to readers. So I'd caution you on using real life so extensively in your fiction. 

 

But, all of us use bits and pieces. I have scenes from my life in my writing that happened. I have characters loosely based on friends. Some people who know me say that I am like, "such and such" character. So I think it naturally happens with us regardless of our intention. You can definitely tell the story you wish to tell, use your friends in a way that can work, and make it worth reading... but you can do so without getting too involved with your real life and the lives of your friends. You can capture what you love, what you hate, and what you think about the people and the world around you, in your writing without crossing the line between what is fiction and what is real. 

 

Real life can bog a person down. Even the happy memories. Fiction is tons more limitless. 

Edited September 28, 2014 by Krista

[metajinx]

I'll back up Sasha Distan here, be bloody careful if you want to stick to real life experiences. As soon as you have to fluff the events, someone could get hurt. I've had that happen with a fictional story I played as a role playing game with a friend, he was quite unhappy with the changes I made when I wrote it down to make things more interesting. It wasn't real life, not even close, but it still caused tensions I had to smooth over until he was happy too (I made his character more badass in the story ).

If you write a story about true events and you exaggerate or change parts, it could look like what really happened is not "interesting enough" to you. If you concentrate on one friend's part in your story more than on another, they could feel left out or not liked as much.

I'm also not saying "don't", I'm just saying, be careful. Change all the names, change the location, change a few of their interests and family constellations, just enough that it doesn't look like an assessment of your friends.

And be ready to not show your story to them, or be really open for criticism. Including real life people in your work of art means they'll maybe want to have a say about it.

[Ravenclaw]

Thank you all very much for the feedback. Well, to say I'd given thought about the whole thing would be an understatement. It's been on my mind for months! I discussed this with the group of people I'd like to write about, and most reactions were very positive on what I was going to say. I'd even given them a short (half page) version of their characters (which I plan to use in the prologue) and what I thought would describe their motives and would do them justice as whole personalities.

Some of them, of course, cried baby over a thing or two, like "I'd never do this!"/"I'd never go that far!" or "I'm not that shallow/mean/cheap!", but the thing is, we've known each other for over a decade now, and some of those people go back thirty years. And I've seen them laugh as well as fight and still make it through hard times. They're very much tight, I think. But I know for sure that introspection is a b*** and people always fail to follow their own actions and reactions, and as an observer I think I can do just that - be the mirror of their egos.

 

Fact is, that through writing I wanted to vent some things which occured over a period of three weeks, which didn't come out of nowhere, but had been there, lurking in the dark, for years. I'm talking about strong emotions, resentments, envy, even hatred, brooding until they exploded over our heads. It's funny to think of drama, and say it happens only on TV. Because we dealt with real drama in real life. Not to spoil the plot, but to give just a hint: what started as a great vacation ended up a mess. Because people who've known each other for so long, never really discussed things that should've been talked about and then did some really stupid things. Those guys, like all humans, are flawed and messed up, and this is what I'm trying to show (not just to the readers out there, but to that same group of people I so much love!): that no matter what, no matter how hard times do become, people still love one another and care for each other. And this story, or at least a big portion of it does have a happy end. (I think!)

I hope it will give closure to some chapters still waiting to have an end and it will bring closer friends who drifted apart.

[Santino]

Writing about real life can always be tricky, but I think you have the right idea. A lot of times when I write, even if it isn't my intention, I find myself putting aspects of people I know or situations I have been in, in my stories and characters. Many times, I don't even identify that I have done it until someone I know reads the book and points it out. This has led to people being both flattered and upset that I perceived them or a situation a certain way.

 

Since I tend to not base books fully or even largely on real life events, I can always say "this wasn't about you", but I agree with the other posters that things may get messy if people get hurt feelings. It's a risk one takes when going that route, but if you have a rich story to tell, I think it's a good idea to consider it. I have been debating writing a similar story, or series, based on my real life friends for years.

[Thorn Wilde]

Lots of good points here. I'd like to add that if you want to avoid butthurt as much as possible, going for more instead of less is probably the better idea. The further you push it out of reality and let the characters live their own lives, the more they will become their own people, and even if your friends recognise themselves in them when the story is done (as they probably will), they will also see that the people in the story aren't really them anymore.

 

I've written a lot of songs that feature myself and my friends, entirely without anyone's permission. And they recognise themselves in not so flattering situations (my poor boyfriend's had to suffer more than anyone), but they also realise that the people in the songs aren't really them anymore, just as the "I" person in my songs isn't really me anymore either. We've all become characters in a story meant for other people entirely, and so it doesn't matter if the characters were us originally.

 

And the more these new characters become caricatures of the originals, the easier it is to handle. So, let the characters go wild. Let them take on a life of their own. If you do, odds are at the end of the day your friends won't even recognise themselves anymore, aside from the backstory and the odd emotional response or mannerism, and there will be no feelings to hurt.