Writing About Real People and Events

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TedTheewen

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I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question and if it is not, I kindly ask the mods to move it to where it would be proper.

I'm writing about the shenanigans at my workplace. The constant drama, hook-ups, disputes, fights, wars, drugs, violence, sex, sex, and sex.

I plan to self-publish these stories as erotic romance novellas in e-book format.

The problem is I don't have to make up much. I'm in the first installment and about 90% of this is true, outside of the sex details, which I obviously have to imagine and make up.

I'm looking for a website that would help me keep certain details anonymous or not obvious so that if my co-workers found out what I was up to they could not sue me.

Sure, names and places, etc. But I would like to know if there is more I need to change or omit.

Links would be appreciated!
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

In this case, you need to change personal details: physical descriptions, some habits, descriptions of their families.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal, memoirist
 

MookyMcD

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The less recognizable, the better. One good trick is to mix traits and individuals. Take the gym rat jock/copier repairman and the alcoholic female department manager and turn them into a gym rat copier repairwoman and a male alchollic department manager.
 

JournoWriter

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"I'm looking for a website that would help me keep certain details anonymous or not obvious so that if my co-workers found out what I was up to they could not sue me."

Are you looking for legal protection or some sort of online anonymizer? I'm confused.
 

Superbacon

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I've started building experiences, scenes, issues that I want to explore (etc) around things that I know from my own life. People I know, issues I've dealt with, etc.

I think when people say 'write what you know', they rarely mean 'put people you know into your books'. It's more a case of use the knowledge you have from your life about how people act and react, and how the world acts and reacts, and use that to be convincing in your storytelling.

People might pick up on the fact that what you've written is reminiscent of them; like in Californication where Hank's father feels uncomfortable reading Hank's novels because he didn't like the father figures in them - they reminded him too much of himself.

How likely is this hurdle to show up, and how do you get around it when it does? I don't know, I haven't enough experience. But maybe just making concerned friends understand that this evil, narcissistic and cruel character isn't actually a recreation of themselves will be enough.
 

TedTheewen

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"I'm looking for a website that would help me keep certain details anonymous or not obvious so that if my co-workers found out what I was up to they could not sue me."

Are you looking for legal protection or some sort of online anonymizer? I'm confused.

A guide to help me know what facts should be changed so that I would be legally protected from a lawsuit should somebody read the story and think they were described.

Perhaps a disclaimer at the beginning of the story would help.
 

MookyMcD

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This type of issue is fact driven, so the legal guidelines are all gray. The standard "any resemblance to real persons is coincidental" won't hurt, but it will not provide much in the way of protection. The rule you're looking for is this: the less recognizable any individual is, the better. That's why I strongly recommend mixing up your personality traits, so nobody is represented in the book. It's a hard sell for the alcoholic office manager to argue that the photocopier repair person or the male Lothario office manager is her.

When it comes to most legal issues in writing, I usually advise not to worry about them during the drafting phase. This is one, however, that needs to be addressed from page one.
 

Karen Junker

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Hi, Ted,

Not to be a bummer, but even when I mixed traits, my acquaintances/friends recognized themselves in my stories. Of course, I write about a fairly small population (witches in the US) so it's hard not to imagine a character is oneself even when it is not.

I'm not a lawyer and am not giving legal advice, but maybe if you change the locations/types of business and use a pen name? Your stories sound fascinating, btw. Good luck!
 

Once!

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A disclaimer isn't going to help much if your story is recognisably about real people. I suspect that your options are either to mix up the characters so much that they are not recognisable or use a pen name and cross your fingers that it stays hidden.
 

MookyMcD

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One thing I'd keep in mind is that interconnected events that are mind-boggling and awesome (or horrible, or both) by themselves in real life can form the characters and backdrop for a good story, but they're not (necessarily) a good story in and of themselves.
 
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