"Any similarity to actual events"

JSSchley · Mar 16, 2012

So my current WIP is inspired by an actual fratricide that happened in my hometown about 7 years ago. I'm worried about too much similarity, and also struggling with the idea of cutting some of the neatest parts of the story, because those are the ones that make it too much like the real story.

The things that are the same:

younger brother killing an older brother
younger brother is undiagnosed with schizophrenia
killer washes himself in a public fountain after the killing. (this is the one I think is probably going to sink it, but it's so cool)

The things that are different:

novel is set in a completely different city, and not one which is a stand-in for/in any way like the real city
nature of the murder is entirely different (different murder weapon, different location)
narrator of the novel is a third, youngest brother, who doesn't exist in the real world

The book opens after the murder has already happened, and I'm basically just using it as the premise. The book explores more the youngest brother trying to regain some sense of normalcy after this happens in his family. Although the middle brother will be on trial throughout the book, I know very little about the real trial and its outcome and so it will be entirely fictional.

How dangerous is this? How close am I coming, here? What should I cut?

jaksen · Mar 16, 2012

I haven't heard of this particular murder so anything you write, if I read it, is new to me.

But if the washing in the public fountain will cause you problems, or embarrassment, whatever, then that is the scene you need to place somewhere else. Where else can a murderer wash up out in public? In a public restroom. On someone's front lawn using a sprinkler or hose that's set up there. In a public park in a small pond where little kids are tossing bread to the ducks. Where else?

The rest sounds different enough, if again you're worried about people/readers recognizing this as a fictional account of an actual murder.

The fact this news event, tragic as it was, has set off a firestorm of ideas is normal. That's how a lot of ideas are triggered - by something that happens in our lives, or something we read or hear about.

I'd say to make the small changes you feel are necessary, but the one scene I'd def. change is the fountain scene - and only because it seems to be the one which bothers you most.

blacbird · Mar 16, 2012

That caveat, expressed in various forms in the front-matter of many books, is nothing but legalistic bullshit to protect the publisher, and secondarily the author, from litigation.

It's like the instructions on plastic food packages telling users to remove the product before frying it.

caw

JSSchley · Mar 16, 2012

jaksen said:
I haven't heard of this particular murder so anything you write, if I read it, is new to me.

But if the washing in the public fountain will cause you problems, or embarrassment, whatever, then that is the scene you need to place somewhere else. Where else can a murderer wash up out in public? In a public restroom. On someone's front lawn using a sprinkler or hose that's set up there. In a public park in a small pond where little kids are tossing bread to the ducks. Where else?

These are all good ideas, and exactly the kind of thing I've been puzzling over. The fountain was what took the murder to something straight out of a Greek tragedy, and what really made it just a fascinating story. I think I'm safe with everything else, and since I don't live in my hometown anymore (and the story is not set there) I think it'd be hard to pin that the inspiration for this is from THAT murder as long as I remove the fountain.

Thank you for your input!

That caveat, expressed in various forms in the front-matter of many books, is nothing but legalistic bullshit to protect the publisher, and secondarily the author, from litigation.

I know this. It was simply an attempt at a clever thread title, which apparently failed.

SomethingOrOther · Mar 16, 2012

blacbird said:
It's like the instructions on plastic food packages telling users to remove the product before frying it.

Oh, that's why my breakfast sausages always had that funny taste.

lolchemist · Mar 16, 2012

don't worry about it at all. it's no different than someone seeing something on the news and being inspired by it.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 17, 2012

Don't worry about it. In one of Lawrence Block's books, he added a line to the legal protection warning in the front of the book. It basically read, Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. The earth is flat.

LindsayM · Mar 17, 2012

First of all, just write it as you see it until you have the first draft completed. You can make changes after that, but first you need to get the words down, no worrying about anything else!

As for making it too much like the real story. Fiction based on true events is perfectly fine, and sometimes all the more interesting. Don't cut - just alter slightly. If it's a story that's been in the news and is public already, changing up a few details will cover you. The killer washing himself in a public fountain? Great plot detail. You don't need to get rid of it as long as you're changing names and character descriptions enough.

My advice? Just write it. Once you get to the querying stage, include in your query that the novel is inspired by true events, and include a link to a news story that covered the incidents in question (assuming it's a digital query). Your agent will be able to help you maneuver through any legal questions.

Best of luck!

JSSchley · Mar 17, 2012

Many thanks, all of you. I think I see a way forward. I mean, I've moved this from my hometown to D.C....there are a lot of fantastic public bodies of water for my protag's brother to get hauled out of.

And yeah, Lindsay, I'm definitely of the "just write" variety, but I was finding this was getting in the way of my laying down the draft. Block broken!

I think...

LJD · Mar 18, 2012

There's a Canadian book, "The Way the Crow Flies" by Ann Marie MacDonald, that was inspired by a famous murder case here. It wasn't a secret that the novel was partly inspired by the Steven Truscott case. Always wondered if there were any legal issues there...

bonitakale · Mar 18, 2012

And what about In Cold Blood?

PoppysInARow · Mar 18, 2012

I wouldn't worry about upsetting anyone. Writers make up details of murders that mirror real-life crimes without meaning to all the time. And some deliberately take details from real crimes for their writing. Nobody can prove it. So long as you don't use any names from the case, or draw directly back to the fact that it happened, you should be fine. As you develop the story, the details of the story will take over, also adding some distance to the real crime.

Sounds like an awesome idea, too.

blacbird · Mar 18, 2012

The case went to trial, and all those facts are public record. True crime writers like Anne Rule write books based on such incidents. No reason why a fiction writer can't draw on the same material.

caw

"Any similarity to actual events"

JSSchley

Have Harp Will Travel

jaksen

Caped Codder

blacbird

JSSchley

Have Harp Will Travel

SomethingOrOther

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lolchemist

Shooting stars.

Jamesaritchie

LindsayM

JSSchley

Have Harp Will Travel

LJD

bonitakale

PoppysInARow

blacbird