Story-gathering - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T10:45:59Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/537324:Topic:27366?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A27638&feed=yes&xn_auth=noYeah, I have a couple of true…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-24:537324:Comment:278712007-04-24T07:32:43.903ZToni McGee Causeyhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/ecouteuse
Yeah, I have a couple of true-crime stories of the "stupid, inc." variety in the book, and both are completely real, though enough details were changed to protect the guilty.<br />
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The only thing not fodder for the grist is something told in complete privacy by my spouse or a friend and using it, even in 'fictionalized' (i.e., slightly altered) form, would do the person damage. I'd like to think I have enough imagination to alter the story well enough so that it doesn't resemble the original but…
Yeah, I have a couple of true-crime stories of the "stupid, inc." variety in the book, and both are completely real, though enough details were changed to protect the guilty.<br />
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The only thing not fodder for the grist is something told in complete privacy by my spouse or a friend and using it, even in 'fictionalized' (i.e., slightly altered) form, would do the person damage. I'd like to think I have enough imagination to alter the story well enough so that it doesn't resemble the original but still accomplishes the goal. No way you can pass that kind…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-23:537324:Comment:276612007-04-23T13:54:41.953ZPatricia Abbotthttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/pattinase
No way you can pass that kind of tale up.
No way you can pass that kind of tale up. Yeaaaap. Anything's fair game…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-23:537324:Comment:276382007-04-23T12:37:12.451ZSimon Spurrierhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/sispurrier
Yeaaaap. Anything's fair game to me. I'd probably pull-short of character-assassinating someone real, but that would have more to do with a cowardly fear of legal or personal ramifications than any moral qualms.<br />
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I think that sort of "complete character" transplantation very rarely occurs anyway. Speaking personally, I'm far more likely to create a character based upon a set of plotted principals, then give them taints and tinges based upon one or several real people of my acquaintence, than…
Yeaaaap. Anything's fair game to me. I'd probably pull-short of character-assassinating someone real, but that would have more to do with a cowardly fear of legal or personal ramifications than any moral qualms.<br />
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I think that sort of "complete character" transplantation very rarely occurs anyway. Speaking personally, I'm far more likely to create a character based upon a set of plotted principals, then give them taints and tinges based upon one or several real people of my acquaintence, than simply dump someone fully formed out of reality into the fiction.<br />
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The same's true of the things a character does. It's always a balancing act between a character performing (in-character) in a way that the plot requires, and extraneous actions based on real-life stuff you've seen or done. The outcome is that a lot of anecdotes and adventures I've picked-up (rarely whilst sober) over the years find their way into my novels, usually being performed by characters who bear little or no relation to the "real" person involved.<br />
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One of my favourites involves a mate of mine who works as a fork-lift truck operator. He's a prodigious pothead (to the extent that his foreman permits him to smoke whilst at work, knowing that nothing will get done otherwise - it's all joyously unscrupulous and illegal). One day he was so baked at the end of the working day that he knew there was no way he could drive home in his car without either crashing or getting nicked by the cops. So, applying his fuzzy and oh-so-impaired logic, he came up with the perfect solution: he'd use the fork-lift to pick up his car, and carry it home instead.<br />
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He got halfway out of the warehouse carpark before the forklift toppled over forwards, unable to bear the weight of a ford fiesta. True story.<br />
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There's no <i>way</i> I'm going to overhear something like that and not find a way to get it into the novel - even though the character involved is absolutely nothing like my mate whatsoever. Anything is fair game, althou…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-23:537324:Comment:275862007-04-23T08:02:49.076ZJulie Morriganhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Julielew
Anything is fair game, although it's generally sufficiently changed (names, details) to avoid detection. Some things are just too damn good to pass up. I also note down turns of phrase/snippets of dialogue that might be useful: my aunt's very pregnant neightbour some years back was seduced into labour; my comment at the time went down like a damp squid.
Anything is fair game, although it's generally sufficiently changed (names, details) to avoid detection. Some things are just too damn good to pass up. I also note down turns of phrase/snippets of dialogue that might be useful: my aunt's very pregnant neightbour some years back was seduced into labour; my comment at the time went down like a damp squid. That's it! I'm not sharing my…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-23:537324:Comment:275262007-04-23T01:19:04.479ZSandra Ruttanhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Sandramre
That's it! I'm not sharing my stories with you anymore!<br />
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(Did you see the outcome of that story I sent you the other day? I'll be looking for that in a future book John!)
That's it! I'm not sharing my stories with you anymore!<br />
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(Did you see the outcome of that story I sent you the other day? I'll be looking for that in a future book John!) A few years ago I co-wrote a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-23:537324:Comment:275072007-04-23T00:37:16.887ZJohn McFetridgehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
A few years ago I co-wrote a book of short stories that all took place on the set of a movie in production. My co-author and I had both worked on a bunch of movies. A lot of the things that happened - and quite a few of the characters - were based on things that happened to us and people we worked with. Some of the characters were not always nice.<br />
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When the book was published and people we'd worked with read it, they always thought the unpleasant characters were people we knew, but almost…
A few years ago I co-wrote a book of short stories that all took place on the set of a movie in production. My co-author and I had both worked on a bunch of movies. A lot of the things that happened - and quite a few of the characters - were based on things that happened to us and people we worked with. Some of the characters were not always nice.<br />
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When the book was published and people we'd worked with read it, they always thought the unpleasant characters were people we knew, but almost everyone thought they were someone different. Pretty much no one recognized themselves (which, I think in my case, was more due to my poor writing than any decision I made to not use the people I knew).<br />
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Now evertything I see and hear is material. The most annoying thing is wh…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-22:537324:Comment:273902007-04-22T17:02:54.192ZPatricia Abbotthttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/pattinase
The most annoying thing is when people think you are writing about yourself--assuming you only have your own story to tell. And assuming your own story is interesting.<br />
I am more likely to borrow incidents to fill out a story--seldom using it as the main plot. Still since I've only written stories until now, I've never needed as much material as a novelist.
The most annoying thing is when people think you are writing about yourself--assuming you only have your own story to tell. And assuming your own story is interesting.<br />
I am more likely to borrow incidents to fill out a story--seldom using it as the main plot. Still since I've only written stories until now, I've never needed as much material as a novelist. I'm sorry, but I consider jus…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-22:537324:Comment:273862007-04-22T16:53:31.452ZDee Savoyhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/deesavoy
I'm sorry, but I consider just about everything grist for this writer's mill, even though most stories need a little fudging to appear plausible even if they're true. What you want is the essence of the event or the individual, not what exactly was said or done or whatever. I have often had those <i>this has <b>got</b> to go in a book somewhere</i> moments--events or situations too rich to leave alone.<br />
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What I have found more interesting is people swearing I've developed a character around…
I'm sorry, but I consider just about everything grist for this writer's mill, even though most stories need a little fudging to appear plausible even if they're true. What you want is the essence of the event or the individual, not what exactly was said or done or whatever. I have often had those <i>this has <b>got</b> to go in a book somewhere</i> moments--events or situations too rich to leave alone.<br />
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What I have found more interesting is people swearing I've developed a character around them, when I wasn't thinking about them at all. My younger sister swore that the heroine in my last RS was based on her and I was like huh? The funniest was when my first book came out. I needed names for two women who were sisters. I "borrowed" the names of two friends of the family who happened to be sisters. I had intended these to be cameo roles, but both got meatier and one sister came off the worse for wear. There was a family wedding and I was dreading seeing this woman knowing she'd read the book and feeling the need to explain why I'd used her name.<br />
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Turns out I shouldn't have worried. She was convinced this character was her and nothing I could say would dissuade her from this honor--especially since the man I paired her with in the story bore the same name as a man she used to date in real life (whom I was too young to remember, mind you). I never tried to convince anyone else that I wasn't writing about them again--but more often than not, I wasn't. I JUST mentioned this subject…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-22:537324:Comment:273802007-04-22T16:36:52.052ZPatti McCoy Jacobhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/pattimccoyjacob
I JUST mentioned this subject in this online mystery writing workshop I'm taking. We were asked by our instructor where we get our ideas, and most of mine either come from people I know well or in passing, and from stories I've heard about people who are acquainted with people I know. Some of them have lives that would make terrific fiction. Without needing to exaggerate a single thing! But I would only use snippets from their lives in a story because I would not want to embarrass them if they…
I JUST mentioned this subject in this online mystery writing workshop I'm taking. We were asked by our instructor where we get our ideas, and most of mine either come from people I know well or in passing, and from stories I've heard about people who are acquainted with people I know. Some of them have lives that would make terrific fiction. Without needing to exaggerate a single thing! But I would only use snippets from their lives in a story because I would not want to embarrass them if they recognized themselves, first of all, and secondly, some of them are nuts - the possibilities of what they might do if they recognized themselves kind of scare me. From a legal standpoint, yes (trying to sue me for writing an unauthorized biography), but also from a "please don't burn down my house for making the details of your freaky life public" standpoint. Yeah, not kidding here.<br />
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So as an alternative, I use one or two aspects of their lives and then fill in the rest with my imagination. Obviously it is very hard to…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-04-22:537324:Comment:273772007-04-22T16:21:29.709ZPatricia Abbotthttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/pattinase
Obviously it is very hard to let some stories slip away-just too good. Or some people--just too interesting. Usually it is possible to mask it and funnily enough sometimes a completed invented characters is thought to be a real person.
Obviously it is very hard to let some stories slip away-just too good. Or some people--just too interesting. Usually it is possible to mask it and funnily enough sometimes a completed invented characters is thought to be a real person.