Hi Everyone,
This is my first time posting. I wanted to ask you all, what's your thoughts and opitions about writing a novel based on a celebrity? The person I am interested in died in 1991 and she was a legendary performer who have now been forgotten. I was lucky to speak to a few people who were closely associated with her, plus managers, band members., ect. Apart from that I also contacted librarys and other resources and have a folder filled with clippings, ect to work from also. I also got to speak to the actress who produced and portrayed her in the movie based on her life. She even sent me the movie script to get inspiration from. This lady lived one hell of a life filled with drama, plenty of hairspray, scandal and a legendary career. I decided a novel would be best because I wanted to give it a fairy tale theme and to have the reader imagining the story (Her gown whips around in the wind) rather than the mere cold facts of her life. Writing like this will add warmth and vision to her story. Her story would attract various people.
Anyway basically I kind of wanted advice and support. Has anyone alse on here done something like this? Let me know. Hope to hear back from you all.
Paul
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60,054 / 50,000
Nov 28, 2007 - 20 44
My first thought, upon clicking your topic, was "Eeew, that's just creepy!" because I'm not big on fictionalizing celebrities. Celebrity fanfic especially creeps me out.
But after reading over what you've proposed, I think it could be very nice. You sound like you're wanting to be respectful, and the celebrity in question is deceased, so it would be more of a memorial.
Good luck with it. :)
----------Heather
Forums Moderator
0 / 50,000
Nov 28, 2007 - 20 59
Thanks for your reply. I do appreciate it. I did speak to the singer's granddaughter over the phone and she loved the idea of a book. Matter of fact she sent me some of her stories. And when I spoke to the actress who portrayed her, she said that she knew I was going to do justice, she said it's kinda like you knew the singer the way you talk about her with so much passion and respect and like I actually understand her. The singer came from an abusive childhood and lived in the woods in a rundown shack and she eventauly pulled herself from the gutter and became a superstar. Elvis Presley once was turned away from her concert , because of the huge crowds wanting to get into the concert and it was sold out. The reason why I choose to do a non-fiction novel, because I wanted to also bring some events back to life and recreate stories from what people told me. I also got to speak to legendary singer Barbara Mandrell, who also shared stories with me. Anybody alse have any views about this subject you want to share?
51,814 / 50,000
Dec 10, 2007 - 13 06
Definitely something I'd pick up off the shelf and read. Good luck... and keep us updated, this sounds like a fascinating novel.
----------"Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it's always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins." – Neil Gaiman