When to use real locations/address and when to fictionalize.

Here's my personal input, but keep in mind that I am not a published novelist, and there are undoubtedly people out here on the boards with more experienced opinions.

I am writing a novel set in my neighborhood and have disguised the street names somewhat. Anyone who lives here will know where I am talking about, as the neighborhood itself has been identified and is regularly described. But it's not explicit. Why? I didn't want to give up my exact address, which is the model for the location. And in the case of your grandmother's house, you may want to retain that privacy factor, too. Change the street name slightly, or the number, or both.

In my opinion, if you are writing about being at Harvard, you should retain that information. However, you may want to fictionalize parts of it for privacy reasons [yours or others], as well.

In fiction, I tend to go with the "movie" style -- meaning I will mix real and fictional locales to give the flavor of the setting. Does that "Bob's Barbershop" have to exist in real life? No. But if I'm writing about a famous location such as New York City (or Harvard, in your case), I'd use as much "real" stuff as possible, but it doesn't mean I can't make things up. Movie people do that all the time, and we don't stop and say, "Wait a minute, I've been to New York and it's not like that..." Just don't change the name of a real location -- e.g. Empire States Building becomes Kingdom Nation, or some such. Do what is good for your story. If you have a murder in a bakery in Chinatown, for example, by all means invent one. It's generic enough that people are not going to go to Chinatown looking for the "Poo Ping Chinese Bakery."

maestrowork said:

"Poo Ping"

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poo ping????

How clever.

Find a mix that works for you. Not everything has to be real, but if everything's false it'll feel like Genericville, USA. Or even Genericville, USG. It'll end up being the CVS brand equivalent of reality.

What if it's in a small town? I'm doing a serial killer loose in a small Canadian town. If I say "the mall", everyone knows it's the Mayflower Mall because there isn't any other, nor is there likely to be in the next fifty years. In something like New York City, there's more room to fit fictional places and people in alongside the real ones.

How to do it in a small town setting?

The way to keep your fictional small town from being generic is to include lots of specific details. Draw a street map. What makes this small town different from every other one? Each town was founded for a specific economic reason, and has a history, and a specific landscape. It may be flourishing or in decline. There may be tension between different ethnic groups. There may be political or police corruption. You can build conflict right in.

Use pieces of different towns that interest you: odd architecture, favorite bars, strange street names, parks. Make it quirky. Make it an indictment of small-town life. Make it a nostalgic recreation of the small town you grew up in. Give it secrets. Give the town a personality.

Then it won't be generic.

If you think that what you write is going to offend someone, "Hey, ain't no cereal killers in muh nayberhood."

If you think it might effect someone's income, "After that novel people avoid my gas station cus they think the Lords of Flatbush is hanging around outside."

If you think it might invade someone's privacy, "Now every body knows my socks got holes in em."

If you think it might hold someone up to ridicule or scorn, "I"m the only Fuzz Bucket in town and now after that novel eveyone thinks I wear my underwear inside out cus Mr. Fuzz Bucket in that novel did it."

If you think what you write might venture into libel, "There are a million John Smiths, but I am the only one who lives on Nowhere Street in Fickle town and his novel expressly states I stole a candy bar when I was ten years old."

Then the safest course is to avoid reality.

Remember when you sign the contract with the publisher you assume all responsiblity for anything you write that can be sued for and you are the one who has to pay all legal costs.

To make it worse the person sueing you does not have to put out a dime. If they can convince a lawyer they have a good case the lawyer will put out the money to sue you. Their lawyer only gets paid if they win.

On the other hand you have to pay up front and out of pocket.

If someone sues you and it costs you $50,000 to fight the case -- And your novel only earns you $10,000 -- You can win the case and still be $40,000 in the hole.

My suggestion = Don't take chances.

Of course, if you're famous enough, it doesn't matter how much you fictionalise it. I used to live in Bisley, where Jilly Cooper lives. One year, when her latest novel came out the pub was full of people complaining about how they were clearly being portrayed (badly) in the book. There were also a fair few who were quite excited 'Ooh, look, it's me! It's me! I'm in a Jilly Cooper book!'. I have no idea whether anyone tried to sue - I know there was talk of some people doing so, but I didn't keep up with it, as I moved shortly after.

There are plenty of books that use real places, e.g. Colin Dexter has Morse working at the Thames Police Headquarters in Kidlington; Ian Rankin has Rebus working at St Leonard's (and then not working then, when the CID shut down). These are both set in big cities though; small towns are probably a bit more difficult though, because I suppose you have to be very careful not to accidentally turn Fred Blogs from King Street into a psychopath!

Sometimes, I think the way the place is portrayed really is a guideline for how much fictionalizing you should do. In "On Writing", Stephen King discusses how he wanted to do some ride-alongs with the Pennsylvania State Highway Patrol, since he was going to be writing a story that included the PA police. He wanted to know how they did stuff. They basically told him he was more than welcome to ride along, and to write them into his story -- as long as he promised not to make them look stupid or incompetent or any other way that might reflect badly upon their organziation. He seems to have felt that fair, because he agreed to their terms. So, while the "officers" in his story are fictional, the organization itself is not.

FolkloreFanatic said:

Lots of varying opinions here. XD

I guess what I'm getting at is that in the supernatural novel, the house is haunted because of a crime that, if it had taken place in real life, would have fallen into the forty or so odd years that my grandparents lived there. My family will not care, as the fictional family doesn't resemble anyone IRL intentionally, least of all our family. However, they are not living there now. I know *I* wouldn't care if someone wrote about the creepy old house I live in as being haunted (at least, I wouldn't if I had a creepy old house), but I have no idea as to whether someone has a right to sue an author for making up a fictionalized past for a place.

With Harvard, I know I'm going to have to work very hard at purposely making characters different from those in real life. It's such a small community that I'm at a loss as to how to talk about anything remotely controversial without seeming to condemn someone. The college part divides students up into twelve 'Houses' that each have distinct cultural, political and geographical signatures. Should I make up one House for the main character's locale and use the real names of the others, make up twelve new names, or use real House names, period? I sure as heck don't want to find myself in front of the Ad Board for writing a story before I walk away with my degreee, and even then, I have no desire whatsover to end up in court with the university.

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The Rule of Four is set at Princeton. You might read it for ideas on how to find the right mix.