Creative liberties in writing in the current [real] world

xenylic · Feb 17, 2018

This might be an odd/dumb/abstract issue, but let me explain.

So, I'm a SFF YA writer, and I've been writing for years, but 95% is in mystical worlds/centuries in the future or past. However, one of my projects is moving over to the real world (in 2014), and I'm getting stumped very easily on the very small details, worried that because I insert and infer certain elements (in my case New York Comic Con), that I'm not depicting 100% faithfully. I also did some research on who was there at the event (such as Sir Patrick Stewart), and considered having my MC talk briefly with him. Is that okay?

I also have a plot-related conundrum, because at the convention (in my book) a bomb goes off, which obviously never happened in the real life 2014 NYCC. For some reason, this makes me hesitate in writing these things out.

Speaking to more experienced contemporary writers, how accurately do you feel the need to depict real-world events/people in a fictional story?

I'm curious how people deal with these things, because obviously you can't make every aspect on the page true to life without turning it into nonfiction.

Dennis E. Taylor · Feb 17, 2018

You don't need to stick to reality. Harry Turtledove completely fabricated a new district in L.A. in his Supervolcano series. I completely made up a SF con in Vegas for my Bobiverse series, and made up a number of panel speakers (although one was a tuckerization of Larry Niven).

Sticking real people into your book without their permission might be more of a problem, as might blowing up a real location. There's really no reason to borrow trouble, since very few people will either know or care if you're using fictional people and places.

cornflake · Feb 17, 2018

Generally, do what you need to do to make your thing work -- though a caveat to that is to not insert living or trademarked characters into your fictional world. Note: for any legal concerns, consult a lawyer in real life, and btw, people can sue you for anything. In, again, a general sense, you're usually ok noting people or things exist -- Bob was excited to have nabbed tickets to ComicCon, Patrick Stewart was going to be there. -- but not having them interact. Your character seeing Patrick Stewart and telling another character he's excited is one thing. Patrick Stewart in your work saying or doing things besides existing is entirely another. Same as Bob stopping at McDonald's is generally not an issue. Bob stopping at McDonald's because the way the fries are arranged in his fry container give him messages about who to kill is probably going to garner you a lawsuit. Even though Bob is nuts, or Patrick Stewart just says nice things, that's all a risk.

Maybe think about the fiction/reality issue this way: you're setting something in NYC, which is real, and at ComicCon, which is real. People know both those things well. Hence, you don't, probably, if it's not a book involving fantasy or unreality of some sort, want to have Main St. in the middle of NYC, or people shopping at the Piggly Wiggly on 22nd Avenue and stopping next door at Macy's at Herald Square, or walking out of ComicCon onto Fifth Avenue and into the subway. However, your character is fictional, so if they're at ComicCon and say they saw P. Stewart's talk and he was awesome and omg do you see that random person dressed as whomever from Firefly? I saw her walking by a booth selling plushies and she winked at me! Let's follow her! <--- that's all fictional people, fictional stuff, plausible setting. Same as people can go to a diner in NYC and talk over fries. There exist diners. No one will blink. If you make up the name of a diner, no one will blink, unless you put it someplace very specific it doesn't and can't exist. If you say 'the diner on the corner of Fifth and Fifty-Ninth' you have a problem. If you say the diner on Broadway by her apt., fine.

Fuchsia Groan · Feb 17, 2018

I think, because of all the info available online, we writers do sometimes get overly hung up on literal accuracy. But I agree with what cornflake said: If you avoid specific details that would allow someone to point to something and say, "That's wrong," or would allow someone to take offense, then you're generally okay.

I remember seeing an online discussion of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch where someone became very irate that she depicted a Burger King on a corner where there is no Burger King. But most of the readers in that discussion, the ones not from that particular town, thought it was a silly thing to fixate on.

I mean, I get it. I read an ARC that takes place in my town, and two scenes happen in cool, funky all-night diners. IRL, my town is not large or hip enough to support even one all-night diner, unless you count Denny's. But the average reader isn't going to know that or care.

As for things like a bomb at NY ComicCon, I think most readers will accept that your novel happens in an alternate version of reality. Personally, I would keep the year vague so that no one can point to your scenario and say, "That didn't happen!" But if you need to specify the year for other reasons, I don't think it's a big deal. You could also make up an alternative name for ComicCon, but that might draw too much attention to itself, like when writers make up fake names for Facebook or Twitter.

morngnstar · Feb 17, 2018

I'm curious, does it have to be in 2014? I think most people think of contemporary fiction as set in the near future, so you're allowed to blow up whatever you want. It hasn't happened, but it could happen. You're also not as constrained by research. You need to know where things are, and you might want to get right what time of year Comic Con typically happens, but you can have anyone at all show up there, because it hasn't happened yet.

Of course, it quickly becomes alternative history, once your book is a few years old, but by then it's fine. So you got a few things wrong. It's all fiction anyway.

xenylic · Feb 17, 2018

cornflake said:
Generally, do what you need to do to make your thing work -- though a caveat to that is to not insert living or trademarked characters into your fictional world. Note: for any legal concerns, consult a lawyer in real life, and btw, people can sue you for anything. In, again, a general sense, you're usually ok noting people or things exist -- Bob was excited to have nabbed tickets to ComicCon, Patrick Stewart was going to be there. -- but not having them interact. Your character seeing Patrick Stewart and telling another character he's excited is one thing. Patrick Stewart in your work saying or doing things besides existing is entirely another. Same as Bob stopping at McDonald's is generally not an issue. Bob stopping at McDonald's because the way the fries are arranged in his fry container give him messages about who to kill is probably going to garner you a lawsuit. Even though Bob is nuts, or Patrick Stewart just says nice things, that's all a risk.

Maybe think about the fiction/reality issue this way: you're setting something in NYC, which is real, and at ComicCon, which is real. People know both those things well. Hence, you don't, probably, if it's not a book involving fantasy or unreality of some sort, want to have Main St. in the middle of NYC, or people shopping at the Piggly Wiggly on 22nd Avenue and stopping next door at Macy's at Herald Square, or walking out of ComicCon onto Fifth Avenue and into the subway. However, your character is fictional, so if they're at ComicCon and say they saw P. Stewart's talk and he was awesome and omg do you see that random person dressed as whomever from Firefly? I saw her walking by a booth selling plushies and she winked at me! Let's follow her! <--- that's all fictional people, fictional stuff, plausible setting. Same as people can go to a diner in NYC and talk over fries. There exist diners. No one will blink. If you make up the name of a diner, no one will blink, unless you put it someplace very specific it doesn't and can't exist. If you say 'the diner on the corner of Fifth and Fifty-Ninth' you have a problem. If you say the diner on Broadway by her apt., fine.

Oh, okay, that makes sense. The examples help clear things up a lot for me here. I figured the whole thing with including Patrick Stewart would be more complicated than it was worth. I don't mind confining it to a much more distant interaction with no dialogue or such. It's not that big of a loss for me.

morngnstar said:
I'm curious, does it have to be in 2014? I think most people think of contemporary fiction as set in the near future, so you're allowed to blow up whatever you want. It hasn't happened, but it could happen. You're also not as constrained by research. You need to know where things are, and you might want to get right what time of year Comic Con typically happens, but you can have anyone at all show up there, because it hasn't happened yet.

Of course, it quickly becomes alternative history, once your book is a few years old, but by then it's fine. So you got a few things wrong. It's all fiction anyway.

Unfortunately, it does have to be in 2014/15. My overarching story involves time travel, and so I have to specify it for the reader to keep track well, and some of the things I have mentioned in it (such as certain items my MC has) are books and stuff that are from the future (but not fictional) so it play s a decently important role in the structure of the story. Kinda dug myself into a trench with that, but it's not the first time this book has put me in a bind haha.

Thanks, guys, for all your responses! They were very helpful!

RaggyCat · Feb 18, 2018

Like you, I can get hung up with inaccuracies when it comes to depicting real thing. I guess my feeling is - the NY Con in 2014 is a very specific thing indeed. A definite, well-known event some of your readers might have attended, and a specific year. Unless there's a good reason for it, I'd be tempted not to depict a real event. Instead, you could write about a con that has a very similar name, in the same year, and is clearly a depiction of the NY Con, but isn't named as such. That way, you get around any problems with inaccuracies easily, and your reader will still be very clear on the kind of event you're depicting.

To give you an example, in one of my books, there's a TV talent singing show. It's clearly a depiction of X-Factor, but I've given it another (very plausible) name. A reader won't bat an eyelid at this, and they'll know exactly what I'm depicting.

Creative liberties in writing in the current [real] world

xenylic

Advancing to the Castle Age

Dennis E. Taylor

Get it off! It burns!

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

Fuchsia Groan

Becoming a laptop-human hybrid

morngnstar

xenylic

Advancing to the Castle Age

RaggyCat