College Setting Question

[TJ Masters]

Hello! I'm currently drafting an m/m erotica novella with a college setting, and I'm wondering if I should use the name of a real college. Is this a no-no, or will it not cause any problems?

My backup plan is to use a college that's just based on a real one, but there are story reasons for why I'd ideally like to use to real one.

[Maryn]

I see no obstacles in using the name of a real college, so long as a few conditions are met.

You have to get other details right if it's a real place--the names of buildings, how long it takes to get around, what the dorms are like, classroom set-up, whatever details appear in the story. Even if you went there, unless it was recent things might have changed.

(Isn't that sad, how boring the research for an erotica story can be?)

It probably should not be a college which is run by a religious institution which considers homosexuality a sin. A public college or university seems okay, as does a private one with an acceptance of all sexual orientations.

There are, of course, some schools famous for their early all-inclusive nature, or for continuing to accept, in a social sense, the most 'outrageous' without judgment. (Our kids attended two such colleges.)

You can sidestep some work by redubbing the real place you have in mind, in such a way that those who are there at this moment would not necessarily recognize it with certainty. That frees you to bend the facts to suit your story if need be.

But if it helps to use the real place, it's quite possible you can.

Maryn, pleased to meet you

[veinglory]

As long as you don't say anything disparaging you shouldn't have any problems.

I personally used a lightly anonymized college because I wanted to change a few things and have a Dean as a villain.

[smoothseas]

Can't really address your question as to legality, but would like to say…

"Ahoy there, and aboard"

[Ann_Mayburn]

I tend to make up a local university and/or like some of the posters above loosely base it off of one. Let me tall ya, readers are rabid about authors knowing their shit so if you write that they went to the third floor of the student union to have sex and there is no third floor, you'll get people pulled out of your story and irritated.

[Filigree]

Plus, if you slightly change it and give it a new name, you will have some legal protection (ASU got snippy a few years ago about being used as the template for a sex-ed up party college, even though some of that rep was justified at the time.) You'll also be excused for changing minor details.

[Sara by the Sea]

TJ, I've written an m/m romance set at college (gearing up to maybe possibly self-pub). I used a real college...it seemed easier that way, as I knew the layout, the buildings, etc. When I needed to describe a scene, I had a ready-made visual in my mind. Whenever I set stories in contemporary times, I always try to have a 'real' place in mind because it feels like it lends credence to the writing.

I once tried to write something set in a place in Canada I'd never been, and I felt like fraud the whole time :P

[dangerousbill]

Originally Posted by TJ Masters

Hello! I'm currently drafting an m/m erotica novella with a college setting, and I'm wondering if I should use the name of a real college. Is this a no-no, or will it not cause any problems?

How important is it that it be a recognizable, well known school? If your story implies that the school is a hotbed for hanky-panky, or winks at cheating on exams, the school might get testy about it.

OTOH, I've written two erotic novels centered on campuses in Illinois and California, and another one in the chute based on the U of Arizona. For instance, the novel in my sig is centered around Stanford U. But the college is only a faint presence in the background, and the name of the school is only mentioned once or twice.

[greeneyes]

Originally Posted by Ann_Mayburn

I tend to make up a local university and/or like some of the posters above loosely base it off of one. Let me tall ya, readers are rabid about authors knowing their shit so if you write that they went to the third floor of the student union to have sex and there is no third floor, you'll get people pulled out of your story and irritated.

I have to admit I'm one of these kind of readers, especially if you get a detail wrong that's really easy to look up. I read a story where the author said the hero received his MBA from Princeton (Princeton doesn't have an MBA program) and another story where the author wrote that the hero was headed to New Haven to attend Harvard, which is in Cambridge. These kind of mistakes are distracting and off-putting. But if you're writing a story where you mention the name of the school without any real specifics (or if you get specific, make sure they are accurate), then there shouldn't be any problem.

[TJ Masters]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I'll take all of this on board as I'm working on the book

[shakeysix]

use a college that has folded in the last decade or so.