Does reality interfere with your novel?

Serenity · Aug 12, 2006

Because, it's kind of treading on the edge of one of my WIP's. It deals with a detective who is chasing a serial killer in Phoenix. I've been toying around with the story/idea for the past year and a half, and have several chapters written. But with everything that's happened in Phoenix recently, I have to wonder, is it a good idea? The place isn't all that central to the story as after the first three chapters, the rest of it takes place in Washington, DC. But it's still bothering me a bit.

Realistically, by the time I finish actually writing the darn thing, editing, letting my beta read it, seeing if its actually good enough, then sending it out, the whole incident in Phoenix will probably be over with the two men responsible convicted and behind bars (I hope, anyhow).

But does anyone else get bothered when life starts... well, imitating art? And does it affect your story enough to change it at all?

Jamesaritchie · Aug 12, 2006

Serenity said:
Because, it's kind of treading on the edge of one of my WIP's. It deals with a detective who is chasing a serial killer in Phoenix. I've been toying around with the story/idea for the past year and a half, and have several chapters written. But with everything that's happened in Phoenix recently, I have to wonder, is it a good idea? The place isn't all that central to the story as after the first three chapters, the rest of it takes place in Washington, DC. But it's still bothering me a bit.

Realistically, by the time I finish actually writing the darn thing, editing, letting my beta read it, seeing if its actually good enough, then sending it out, the whole incident in Phoenix will probably be over with the two men responsible convicted and behind bars (I hope, anyhow).

But does anyone else get bothered when life starts... well, imitating art? And does it affect your story enough to change it at all?

Reality should be a starting point for fiction, but not the finish line. I frequently use as much reality as possible in fiction, but I still fictionalize it enough so that, with luck, real life events won't snuff out the premise before the book has been in print a while.

And if the Phoenix part isn't necessary, it should be removed. It sounds like your novel actually begins with chapter three.

Serenity · Aug 12, 2006

Actually, it's the location itself that isn't necessarily important. But what happens there is.

AdamH · Aug 12, 2006

Life and reality is what I base all my stories on. Whatever happens in the real world rarely turns out to be the story that I end up writing...unless that is my intention.

I wouldn't be too concerned.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is indirectly about 9/11. So nothing is taboo as long as it's written well and with sensitivity.

blacbird · Aug 12, 2006

Reality interferes with my reality.

caw.

ChaosTitan · Aug 12, 2006

I had a moment like that last summer while working on an outline for one of my WIP's. It's set circa 2030, and one of the major turning points in the story is a Category Five hurricane that decimates Washington, DC.

About a month after I finished the outline, Katrina hit New Orleans. The timing certainly gave me a moment's pause.

Cassiopeia · Aug 12, 2006

There is nothing better than using reality to validate your fictional story. I have also wondered if I should use real places in my novel. Some of it being snippets from my own life,embelished and the names changed to protect the guilty and all that

asorum · Aug 12, 2006

blacbird said:
Reality interferes with my reality.

caw.

Absolutely correct! I hate it when that happens...

NightWynde · Aug 12, 2006

I had written a vampire/sf piece a few years back. The original intent was to write it as if it was a woman from the future who was the "oldest woman alive" and it was told in a wrap-around fashion vis a vis an interview style format for the future parts of the story and in standard fictional prose for the background pieces. It felt like every time I'd come up with a device that was several years in the future, a prototype would be on the market.

And that is why I don't write sf.

DeborahM · Aug 13, 2006

chaostitan said:
I had a moment like that last summer while working on an outline for one of my WIP's. It's set circa 2030, and one of the major turning points in the story is a Category Five hurricane that decimates Washington, DC.

About a month after I finished the outline, Katrina hit New Orleans. The timing certainly gave me a moment's pause.

Did what happen afterwards give you ideas for your WIP?

maestrowork · Aug 13, 2006

If it worries you that your fiction imitates life too much, switch the location.

If you don't write the story, it remains a fantasy for you. The only reality is actual words on pages.

Mayor of Moronia · Aug 13, 2006

Madame Bovary is a barely fictionalized account of a real event. Much of WAR & PEACE came from Tolstoy's experiences.

blackbird · Aug 13, 2006

I wouldn't worry about it. As you say, the Phoenix killings will no doubt be history by the time your book is published, anyway, and the American public has a notoriously short attention span, as well as memory. Granted, your story may still echo these events and some may wonder if you based your novel on them. But I don't think that would necessarily be a good or bad thing, just one of those little curiosities readers might wonder about.

ChaosTitan · Aug 13, 2006

DeborahM said:
Did what happen afterwards give you ideas for your WIP?

I wouldn't say ideas, exactly. But writing about the aftermath in the story will probably have a thicker layer of honest emotion now.

Does reality interfere with your novel?

Serenity

NCIS...

Jamesaritchie

Serenity

NCIS...

AdamH

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blacbird

ChaosTitan

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Cassiopeia

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asorum

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NightWynde

DeborahM

I need espresso & chocolate!

maestrowork

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Mayor of Moronia

blackbird

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