I once read a book by a famous author in which the main character's life was filled with the music of Bob Dylan.
So, is it that Bob Dylan is iconic enough to be "okay" as a pop culture reference? Or is it that the famous author has some sort of pass that we, as amateur authors, do not get?
If the former, when does it become "all right" to use some one/some thing in your story?
In my last Nano, my MC frequently sung a very popular 60's tune which had her name in it. Is this a no-no?
And, lastly, if pop culture references are taboo, then why is it okay to throw around names of today's popular designers when you are describing someone's attire (she ruined her Manolo's by stepping in a puddle)? I fail to see the difference.
I do not want to embarrass myself by including something in my writing which may be considered (by most) to be amateurish or "wrong".
Thank you in advance for your response. :)
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50,101 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2009 - 05 35
Pop culture references aren't ok? Says who? I saw recently where someone said that they disliked *meaningless* pop culture references, but meaningless anything sucks.
Sometimes, pop culture references can "date" your story so if you don't want it strongly associated with a certain time frame, you should leave them out. Or if it's a reference that will fade with time, people in a few years won't get it. But those're the only reasons I can think of to avoid certain pop culture references.
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Nov 17, 2009 - 05 57
What the person above me said.
Also, bear in mind that you have to make sure the pop culture references match the time frame of the story and when it's published. If, for example, you're writing what you want to be a modern YA high school set in the year it's published, then just a few years from when you wrote it you may have to adjust it to reflect the new school pop culture.
I remember when shopping at Goodwill was something peers expected you to be ashamed of. Then it was chic to shop there. I'm not sure how it rates in "coolness" now.
The same kind of thing goes for bands and popular music genres, like bubblegum pop. Anyone remember Aqua's "Barbie Girl"? If you have that playing on the radio in your story, people will be thinking '90s. Unless it's smile.DK, your character has a CD player going, and either plays Dance Dance Revolution or is a fan of J-pop (Japanese pop music).
So if you want the pop culture references to match when you're published, you may want to mark them in your manuscript as things that may need adjusting later. I use square brackets ( [ and ] ) for notes, myself.
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Nov 17, 2009 - 06 09
*points to the thread stickied at the top of the forum that was put specifically there to say that most pop culture references ARE "okay"*
About the only things that's not-okay arelibel (claiming that McDonald's causes food poisoning, for instance) and copyright violations (reproducing an entire song without permission, for example). Most everything else, from casual mentions to outright parody, is fine.