In the movie A Knight's Tale, Chaucer spits out this threat.
"I will eviscerate you in fiction. Every pimple, every character flaw. I was naked for a day; you will be naked for eternity."
I've joked before that one has to be careful what one says around a writer, because it may wind up in print someday, and not in a flattering way. I'm not generally a vindictive person, but there are times in my writing where I base characters and situations on people who have wronged me in the past. For example, a harsh insult (something so cold I couldn't make it up) from someone I once knew is uttered by the antagonist in my WIP. I admit, a certain part of me warms a little at the thought of the slim possibility of her reading her own words someday...
Am I psychotic, or is this normal behavior? Do any of you turn past enemies/ insults into rich story material? Do you keep a fiction hit-list?
"I will eviscerate you in fiction. Every pimple, every character flaw. I was naked for a day; you will be naked for eternity."
I've joked before that one has to be careful what one says around a writer, because it may wind up in print someday, and not in a flattering way. I'm not generally a vindictive person, but there are times in my writing where I base characters and situations on people who have wronged me in the past. For example, a harsh insult (something so cold I couldn't make it up) from someone I once knew is uttered by the antagonist in my WIP. I admit, a certain part of me warms a little at the thought of the slim possibility of her reading her own words someday...
Am I psychotic, or is this normal behavior? Do any of you turn past enemies/ insults into rich story material? Do you keep a fiction hit-list?
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