Let's talk straight for a minute.

[wednes]

Is it wrong to take someone else's personal tragedy and turn it into gripping fiction?

Is it a question of intention? Like, if I'm doing it to purge myself of the horror it's okay; but if I'm doing it to exploit a tragedy for profit, it's not? I'm not entirely sure if it's as black and white as all that.
I'd been trying to think of a tragedy so I could give one of my characters a back story. And then, as many of you know, I heard about something horrible that happened to someone I used to know. Is it disrespectful to make this tragic part of the story into fiction? Does it depend on the handling of the subject matter? Is it a question of how recognizable the real perosn is?

Frankly, I'm still really fucked up over this and need to work through it.

I know many of you write and almost all of you read regularly (books I mean, not street signs and menu's and shit). With that in mind, I would love to hear as many perspectives as possible.

In disappointing news, my computer will not be in a usable state until Monday. So I shall be resorting to the pre-analog system of writing things by moving a pen across notebook paper in loops and lines until it makes words. Yeah...I guess you can do that for other things besides a grocery list.

Did I mention that U of M has a 2-year MFA in creative writing (poetry or fiction concentration) and I wouldn't even need to take the GRE to apply??? I also learned recently that for educational purposes, bi-polar counts as a disability and I can get help paying for grad school. Not to mention, the program offers at least a 70% tuition waver and a stipend for teaching like, freshman comp and stuff. Could you imagine me teaching college freshman? High-Larious!
I daresay I'm almost ready for some hardcore schooling. I've wanted to go back to school for a while but didn't really feel ready. And of course it can be very expensive to start graduate studies and then fuck them up. In the last year or so, I think my overall craziness has lessened greatly. My ups and downs are less severe and actually working on writing projects has given me a lot of perspective and a greatly increased sense of self-worth. Being less manic and less depressed has been very, very nice.

And just so you all know, I went to Mworks for the pre-employment screen.
Let's hope that rumor about cranberry juice is true. ;-}

Comments

[cmdavi-70.livejournal.com]

Your concerns about exploiting tragedy for creative purposes are valid, and in the hands of a less sensitive writer this could very well be the case. I have complete confidence, however, that you would work with the subject matter to make sense out of the senseless and to shed some knowledgeable insight into the situation. I think it's a story that NEEDS a perspective beyond that of a disinterested journalist. Best of luck!

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Thank you, man. I really appreciate your saying that.

[itches]

'Is it wrong to take someone else's personal tragedy and turn it into gripping fiction?'

Wrong or right, I've seen it happen before. This was ages ago, but I was reading the local paper and saw a small article talking about how a woman in her 30's/40's had suddenly lost her memory of everything that happened after she was 16. She was married at the time so naturally she freaked out.

The article went on to talk about how eventually she fell in love with her husband again, and the point of the article was her saying how lucky she was to get a chance to fall in love twice.

I remember reading it and thinking that I could turn it into a cool story, but I was lazy and didn't do anything about it.

6 months to a year later I was watching the TV show Neighbours, when one of the characters who was in her 30's/40's and married suddenly lost her memory of everything that happened after she was 16.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

No shit. I hate when that happens.

I think what you're telling me to do is seize on the idea while it's still fresh. I should probably just work out the moralities on my own.

On the one hand, I'd kind of like to be validated that this isn't ghoulish and horrible. But the act is already disgusting, baffling and terrible, so it's not as if writing about it would make it any worse.

[itches]

I think the morality line is just how close the two are. If you carbon copy it, that's not cool. If it's just inspired by it, with a lot of similarities I don't see any problem.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it would definatley be the latter, since I'm fitting the tragedy into an already established character set.

Thanks!

[anathon.livejournal.com]

I think it really depends on how its handled. Inspired by, not every detail the same. I see nothing wrong with that. Word for word specifics, maybe not so right on the realm of fictional back story.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

That seems reasonable. I doubt it would be recognizable even to people who remotely know the story. LOL, maybe I shouldn't've told anyone.

Thanks!

[sleazeanna.livejournal.com]

I don't think it is wrong at all. Fiction is inspired by real life, and this tragedy is obviously something you feel very strongly about. That is all the more reason to write about it, in my opinion. Obviously your intentions are good, and I think that does matter.

[rivetkitten.livejournal.com]

Well, honestly, there are only so many combinations of people killing eachother. Someone has probably already written something kinda like it, but since you knew these people personally, you'll probably treat it with a LOT more sensitivity and respect than they ever would. I doubt it'd be recognized as the same incident.

its ok

[katharinakatt.livejournal.com]

Writing is our way of getting through things. Anne Rice wrote about Claudia in Interview with a Vampire to get through the death of her daughter. I killed the vampire prince in my book A Female Vampire in order to get through the betrayal of my soulmate.

Few make the connection til we point it out. I think if you want to write about it, then its ok. It is probably your way of needing to work things out in your head - and that's ok too!

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I think you're quite right, so it's nice to hear that I'm not a ghoul for wanting to turn this into something.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

That's true...I suppose now tht I've brought it up, you'll all know, but that's 100 some people out of everyone who could potentially read it. Hopefully, that will someday be a whole lot of people.

Re: its ok

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I always thought it funny (not haha ffunny but the fucked-up funny) that Anne Rice denied Claudia had anything to dow ith her daughter. When she talked about it to Bill Kurtis, she acted offended that he even suggested it. Then again, it's probably far too personal a topic for television.

And yes, a large part of the writing comes from my need to work through just what the hell happened there. It's just so baffling.

Sounds entirely valid, to me...

[paulcurtis.livejournal.com]

Many (if not most) fiction writers keep a book of clippings, with an emphasis on the weird and tragic. It comes with the territory.

I think it spills-over into inappropriate territory, if it does one of the following things:

If the way it is handled leads the readers to have contempt for the fictionalzed characters...for instance, I have been used as a character in other peoples' writing, but it would only bother me if someone, having read those works, would then think I was a total bastard.

If the fiction is really no more than a thinly-disguised attempt to capitalize on an actual incident (without having to get the facts straight, as one would, if it were non-fiction,) and nothing additional to offer.

If the real-life circumstances are so well-known that the reading public cannot read your work on its own merits as fiction, but instead impose their own interpretation, based on what they know of the real-world case.

The third situation is actually fairly common, in fiction, but has so many pitfalls, I recommend against it. If the "Jack the Ripper" case were occurring Today, I would be very unlikely to want to write a work of fiction, based on it. People would be more likely to quibble with whether I got the "facts straight" than they would to just enjoy the writing on its own merits.

So, I think you should be safe to just go right ahead!

[spasmsproject.livejournal.com]

I'd say you could use key details, but change as much as possible to make the characters and setting your own. Paul had some good advice, I notice. I've used some real-life tragedies of my own and had them translate directly into stories, but when incorporating real-life events of other people's lives, I've changed them to the point that even they didn't recognize themselves.

I think that's important, not just for their sake, but to exercise your creativity.

Re: Sounds entirely valid, to me...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Wow...you clearly put some thought into this, and I appreciate it. You are right on all counts, and have validated pretty much what I was thinking about this. I'm also comforted to know I'm not the only one who saves fucked up news articles. I only have a few, but they are Cah-Razy!!

While I really think it's something I need to write about, I would hate to do anything that would defame her memory, or that of her son. Plus, I had to think of a tragedy for someone who needs a horrible backstory. I almost wonder if that is why the universe let me know about this incident now instead of soonafter it happened.

But you know, I think everything is about me... ;-}

[wednes.livejournal.com]

True dat.

Thanks!

Yeah, I don't think anyone will be able to recognize her.

Re: Sounds entirely valid, to me...

[paulcurtis.livejournal.com]

I agree with Amy's caveat, that it's best to change as many details as possible, (without losing the underlying basis of the anecdote)...in fact I presumed that, from the things you said earlier.
--
Probably the all-time King of incorporating bizarre newspaper clippings into even-more-bizarre novels was Harry Stephen Keeler, a writer few people would emulate, but whose works are wondrous strange, and worth sampling, at least once.

Re: its ok

[katharinakatt.livejournal.com]

Actually she did admit to it on Larry King Live. So maybe she just had to figure it out and accept it.

[klynnfrost.livejournal.com]

I didn't read what everyone wrote but my two cents is that writing about it could probably be theraputic and good. I don't think it's exploiting it if you are using it for an idea.

The school thing sounds exciting.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Yeah...since I'm likely not going to get this Comcast gig, I have to start looking at other options. I'm back to the idea of taking a job I can tolerate for a year or so and then getting my ass back to school.