writing what you know vs imagination

[licity-lieu]

Here's my burning question. I have been restling with an MS for about six months now-well, its difficult to call it an MS actually. At this stage its more like snippets of character developments, scene setting bla bla. My prob is this:

My novel is based on a true family event but I dont want to write a biography-if you know what I mean. The central event (a family secret) is a disturbing one and, if I were to be published, could offend those family members who are still alive to remember it. I have done little things like changed town locations, researched the local history of a house that the story unfolds in etc, but the actual event is still recognisable. I suppose what I'm asking here is how do people cut ties with actual people so that they can write from the imagination. I know that we all tap into banks of knowledge drawn from our early memories but, in my case, I want to try to switch it off without losing the 'dark family secret' element. Because I know my central characters very well I'm finding it hard to invent things for them thus fleshing them out in different ways. Has anyone restled with this particular demon and found techniques to overcome it? or, should I stick with what I know and hang the consequences?

[jodiodi]

I'd approach it this way:

Forget that it's a 'real' story. Take your MC and look at him/her as a completely new and unknown individual that experienced this type of event/secret. Unless you're writing a true-crime or memoir or some other form of Non-Fiction, you want to separate the 'real' people from the characters in your book. Let your characters take on their own lives.

At least that's what I'd do. Others more experienced and wiser than me will have the better advice.

Good luck.

[blacbird]

To me the shibboleth "Write what you know" is only meaningful in the context of "Write what you know about people and how they interact." Beyond that, everything else is fair territory for the writer's imagination. Ray Bradbury created a Mars he didn't know. Stephen Crane wrote about a war he didn't experience. But they populated these places they created imaginatively with characters who reflected what real people would do, confronted with conflicts and problems.

caw

[Saundra Julian]

I know exactly what you mean. The first book I wrote (the one with my daughter) was also true, to a point. It has a lot of my mother's stories from her childhood in it but we expanded the book (a lot) to include things that were pure imagination.

Some of it was very hard to write...like the sex scene, which were few compared to other books I've written alone.

I suppose we did a very good job on the story because people who have read the book think all those things really happened to my mother.

I wrote the MC give birth to twins and have had people ask me if I was one of the twins. They seem very disappointed when I tell them there were no twins...:D

I think you have to distance yourself from reality and slip into the world of imagination...big help, huh? I took my mother’s personality and used it to imagined how she would have handled different situations…the rest just came.

Hope this is some help...

[David I]

To me the shibboleth "Write what you know" is only meaningful in the context of "Write what you know about people and how they interact."

That's about as well-put as I've ever seen it.

People often transform initial life experiences wildly in writing a story. To take an extreme example, Mario Puzo claims to have modeled Don Corleone in THE GODFATHER on his own mother; in other words, DOn Corleone what what Puzo's mother would have been if she just happened to be a male Mafia boss.

Personally, I've always adopted Ralph Keyes' motto "Compose First, Worry Later."

[Carrie in PA]

I completely agree with Blacbird.

[Julian Black]

The central event (a family secret) is a disturbing one and, if I were to be published...That "if," to me, is where the answer lies.

There is no guarantee that it will ever be published. You have no contract, no deadline; nobody's waiting for you to deliver this MS.

That doesn't mean it will never be published, but worrying over what will happen in the future, before the finished MS even exists, is--well, a bit premature.

You have a story you obviously want to write. Write it. You may find suitable ways to alter it as you go, or maybe once it's done and you've taken some time away from it you can go back and do a re-write. Or maybe getting it written and having the finished MS in your bottom drawer will be enough, and you'll go write something else, something less difficult, something that you can get published without worrying over it.

[licity-lieu]

Personally, I've always adopted Ralph Keyes' motto "Compose First, Worry Later."


Hmmmm yes...just as I suspected. Good advice guys. Thanks! I think I'll set down real life stuff and then tweak and twiddle the edges until Ithey take on their own life. I 'spose the worry can come in the
edit(s).

Another question: I think I've seen this written before but I cant remember where. What are the pros and cons of using separate entries for each character, as apposed to switching voices for each character? My novel is going to be a mother/daughter generational sweeping saga type affair. I guess I'm really at that initial, yet crucial stage, of working out how to structure this thing. Frustration abounds....

[laurel29]

I've thought about this before because I've had several people ask me to write a story about my own family's history. I don't think anyone would want to read it, but that might be because I don't like to read books like that. Besides the fact that I think it would be a lethal mix of boring and depressing, I also wouldn't do because if by some wierd stroke of fate it was actually published, it would hurt a lot of people. They deserve it, but still, I don't like doing things like that. Plus, my in-laws would find out entirely too much about me. I might take certain parts of my life and work them into other stories, but I doubt I'd write anything remotely recognizable.

I think if you want to write it, just do it and worry about what other members of the family will think after you find a publisher. You really don't need to worry until then. You could also write it under a pen-name, not tell anyone and hope they never read it :D.

[licity-lieu]

That "if," to me, is where the answer lies.

There is no guarantee that it will ever be published. You have no contract, no deadline; nobody's waiting for you to deliver this MS.

That doesn't mean it will never be published, but worrying over what will happen in the future, before the finished MS even exists, is--well, a bit premature.

You have a story you obviously want to write. Write it. You may find suitable ways to alter it as you go, or maybe once it's done and you've taken some time away from it you can go back and do a re-write. Or maybe getting it written and having the finished MS in your bottom drawer will be enough, and you'll go write something else, something less difficult, something that you can get published without worrying over it.

Ahhh yes. Thank you Julian. I do tend to err on the side of 'serious bunny' territory. Though, I 'spose these questions have been shitting me from day one and getting them out here has been really liberating. thanks.:D Your advice is the kick up the bum I needed.

[Silver King]

I think if you want to write it, just do it and worry about what other members of the family will think after you find a publisher.
This is wonderful advice. And even if your story was purely fictional, people who know you will go out of their way to associate themselves with your characters anyway.

Write your story the way it feels most real to you. If you keep worrying about what family and friends will think, you'll lose the essence of your tale, and it will never feel real to you or the reader.

[David I]

What are the pros and cons of using separate entries for each character, as apposed to switching voices for each character?

I'm not sure I understand this question...could you clarify?

[Judg]

I agree with go ahead and write it. And then go ahead and rewrite it so it becomes unrecognizable. Or at least to the stage of plausible deniability. :D

I have an interesting situation or two in the family that would make great stories. But I'm sitting on them until I can figure out how to handle them so no one gets hurt. Until I do that, they aren't going into anything. MInd you, I'm working on something else, so they're not exactly draining my creative energy.

As a bit of a writing exercise, this very evening, I was taking well-known stories and trying to imagine them in a vastly different context, with different characters. To do this, I tried to reduce the central goal to something more generic. Ditto with the central conflict or obstacle. Then I tried to imagine that KIND of goal in the hands of a different person in a different time and place. I haven't finished working out the details yet, but it's an interesting exercise that could prove useful to me in the future. It might be helpful for you too.

[Novelhistorian]

A novelist whose name I forget--she wasn't that good a novelist, but I liked what she said--offered a different version of the rule about writing what you know. Maybe it will help you here, licity. Don't write what you know, write what you'd like to discover. So you could start with the situation as it existed in your family but ask yourself what-ifs about the characters, changing them, remolding them, probing their inner lives in ways that they might not have done themselves. That may make the actual writing less dangerous for you, and after the book is finished, you can--as you were wisely advised by several people--either leave it in a drawer or reread it with an eye toward publication.

[bunnygirl]

I once took a true story from my own experience but told it through the eyes of an entirely fictional character. I gave him his own story to tell and had him interact with the characters of the "true" story. It gave me the distance I needed and I ended up with something different and more interesting than the reality I had based everything on.

So maybe you can do something like that-- tell the story from the viewpoint of an outsider who becomes friends with or romantically involved with one of your "real" characters. Think Nick Carraway telling Jay Gatsby's story.

[maestrowork]

"Based on a true story."

Go from there.

[Samuel Dark]

Anytime you have something thats real -- something as sensitive as your claiming -- you need to change something dramatic. I have a similar situation. There are things about my life -- and my father -- that are critical to a story. So you know what I will do? Change on major factor: The main character is not a human, but a werewolf. The main events of the story will be told as a werewolf, and the plot revolves around the werewolf. From there, I'll just see where my real-life story comes through.

As my writing professor says: Never try to tell a message, but only tell a story. The story will tell the message.

So, change something major. Maybe not like I did -- but something that will altar things. Let the characters take it from there.

[licity-lieu]

Darn this quote tool thingy. Cant seem to get it to work for little ole newbie me (if I want the emoticons in advanced I cant multi quote-or can I?) Anyway, I wanted to respond to lots of posts here but I guess I'll just keep it general. Thanks everyone-totally awsome advice all round. Samual-not quite ready to write in a warewolf but I get the gist and I can definately fiddle with the "majors". To Novelhistorian: "Don't write what you know, write what you'd like to discover" thats a gem!

I'm so aware that writing about skeletons in the closet can become a bit myopic and therefore boring. I'm aiming to inject a fair measure of humour into my characters too. Ive thought long and hard about this book, since I was about 13 actually, so I guess I have to give it a go-irrespective of publishing success.

Judg: funny you should say that about the writing exercise you use. I wrote a short story not long ago which explores the lives of Father Mckenzie and Elenor Rigby in the Beatles song. Us daggy English teachers call this technique 'imaginative recreation'-though you probably know that.:e2smack: Maybe I'll post it...um...maybe. (BTW A novel called "Eleanor Rigby" has been written too-never read it but it sounds interesting.)

David I: yeah that question was written appallingly-sorry 'bout that. I can't actually remember what I was asking. Ha Ha. When I figure it out I'll post it as a separate thread.

Thanks again for all your help. :Sun:

[Rob B]

This is a late post, so you might not get to it, but I'm going to go against the grain with everyone on this and cite someone I respect. William Goldman said in his last book to wait until the person (or the last person) is dead until writing a story with implicit personal implications, if the writer thinks its going to hurt that person (or people).

I guess the point is, the person or persons are going to know what the story is about, and as you've expressed, it could be quite uncomfortable. Unless a writer simply doesn't care, I'd have a tough time with this one. Many, including myself, have used people they have known as their characters, but your story line, as you've described, seems much too hard to separate.