Looking for some advice BEFORE I make a major mistake

I'd be very cautious about using this. No matter how much you THINK you know, I can promise you that you don't know the entire story and therefore could be inadvertently flirting with libel if you say the wrong thing.

Sorry...but I'd find something else to write.

I want to be sure to say is yes, write it down! If nothing else, writing things down that affect us is a good way of processing. While you think you'll remember every detail forever, you really won't, and having the outline in your personal files is something : )

I don't want to detract from *your* story but strictly speaking, Nano is about writing FICTION. You can certainly use the skeleton of something that really happened but you'll need to make changes like composites from some "characters" (the real people) and the bonus is you can spice up some that aren't "that interesting" or crank up tension by making plot changes. Instead of a choir, you could make it another organization or keep the choir but make it a different group of people who make it up (instead of students, adults, or instead of adult, aliens...whatever you like writing).

I use personal experiences (everyone does) to add depth to characters or emotions. I know it's effective. My first readers, who have no knowledge of certain scenes or even specific dialogue that takes place, come back to me with emotional responses to those things above the things I make up completely. I'm learning but that is something that is clear so far.

Good writing!

***
05 Nano: (finished as a lurker)
06 Nano: "And She Was" - winner
07 Script Frenzy: "Complicated Shadows" - winner
07 Nano: "ASW 3.0" - winner

I suppose I wasn't clear about this. I DON'T intend to write this exactly as it happened/happens. That wouldn't make it a challenge for me, and it would be boring. I do intend to change the storyline quite a bit, and the characters so that I have to think about who would do what in this situation. NaNo IS about Fiction, which is why I'm not just doing a narrative of what happened this year. I guess I wasn't clear about that. I suppose I was looking for advice on what to keep and what to leave. But I'll just figure that out as it comes.

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow'"

I see nothing wrong with using that as a jumping off point. Last year I fictionalized a real place, time and experience from my own life. It went pretty well once I got past the compulsion to write the way things really happened. The biggest challenge was making my main character (me) do and say things that I wouldn't say or do. I had to force myself to take chances just to make the story compelling. I had no idea my "interesting" real life story was so boring once I put it down on paper.

I guess I'm saying that, sometimes it got in the way of my creativity.

This year I'm using a real place and time and a few known characters. But I won't be trying to tell a story that I've already lived. I'll let you know if it's any easier... or if the story turns out any better.

JCat

I'd say - go for it! several reasons -

This is having an effect on your life, you'll feel strongly about it - that'll come through in the writing.

You're interested in the subject. (If your not interested, how can you hope to interest anyone else?)

As soon as you got to 'choir teacher' in your comments, I got interested. My school didn't have a choir teacher, it's not something I know about. Admin nightmares - I know about them. You've got the chance to use some 'specialist knowledge' but it won't be set in an alien world no one can relate to.

At the very least, writing about the situation will help get your annoyances out of your system.

You'll need to guard against using too much of real events - libel is the least of your problems. Sticking to the 'truth' can ruin a good story. If you're aware of that danger you can guard against it - maybe by picking a few characters far removed from the real people involved. Don't be worried about deviating from real events or discarding them completely.

I've written (and had published) some short stories based, very losely, on true events. I found that as I wrote, I needed to delete most of the 'truth' as it didn't work so well as fiction. That didn't matter, what mattered was that the original idea sparked a story I wouldn't otherwise have written.

Good luck with whatever you decide to write.

Especially if you change names and events around and generally fictionalize the whole, I don't see that there's a problem with using your experiences as a core or a foundation. I've done the same myself, using my writing as a catharsis of sorts while still altering it enough that it only bears a passing resemblance to actual people and events. Something I've found is that, while it's good to vent about true events to a friend or in a journal, it's somehow more therapeutic to twist them out of control and have a look at what other paths they could have taken (either good or bad); you also get the benefit of saying, even if it's only in a story, that really nice zinger that you thought of twenty minutes later =).

I am the depilator of bunnies.
FLEE, YE RABBITS!
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2007: Valentina's (Winner!)

Psychopaths: 2
Elves in Disguise: 3
Goths: 5
Milksops: 1
Character Deaths: 2
Characters Maimed: 1
Smart-asses: Still counting

My advice to you is this: Don't write about real life. Write things that are inspired by real life.

If you try to keep true to the actual story of your choir teacher quitting, and the elementary school teacher, and all that, you'll get stuck. A lot. So try, maybe, focusing on something else, sort of, and adding it in there. Make it believable, but, at the same time, make it fictional. That way, if people who were part of the actual event read it, you can say, "No, it's not exactly what happened. It's fiction. It's based on real life."

Like, for example, my friend (who works at a movie theater) told me this story about how her boss got beat up by a drunk guy when he was closing up one night. So, I took this story and added it to a short story I was creating, but twisted it so that it fit. It ended up fitting not only the characters, but the situation as well.

So, that leads me to think of something else. Try to write about it from someone else's perspective, and not your own. Think of how other people are reacting, or, if you have fictional characters, think of how they'd react, and now just about how you or maybe even your friends did.

Anywho, good luck with this. It sounds like a good start.

And I hope I didn't waste anyone's time by repeating someone else... -__-;;

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"Reality is boring. That's why I write."

2008 SF : [i]Deciding on August[/i]

I LOVE YOU'VE GOT MAIL.

...

That is all. :)

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow'"

I would worry too much about using a real-life situation as the basis for your story. NaNo stories have a tendency to wander in strange directions anyhow, so while you might start with your real life situation, you mind find yourself far from there by the end.

It sounds like a good idea to me. Why would it be a major mistake?

Well, everyone has a place they get inspiration from--if it's a real life event that you're going to tweak a lot to make sure it's strictly fiction, I'd see nothing wrong with it personally.

um...

Not having seen said movie...I'm confused.

I am the depilator of bunnies.
FLEE, YE RABBITS!
----------------------------------------
2007: Valentina's (Winner!)

Psychopaths: 2
Elves in Disguise: 3
Goths: 5
Milksops: 1
Character Deaths: 2
Characters Maimed: 1
Smart-asses: Still counting

Okay, so here's the deal. Approximately three days before the school year started, our choir teacher left to take a job at a community college, leaving us high and dry. Administration, being the brilliant people they are, brought in an elementary school teacher, who was here for approximately 7 weeks (sounds like more than it is) before she decided she couldn't do this job and went back to her 2nd graders, and now we have no teacher (and no accompanist- I'd explain that part, but I'm trying to do the short version of the story) and are doing a student-run concert- One of our Seniors is directing all four choirs, and one of our Juniors is accompanying (she has basically been playing since she was born).

i don't understand how this could be a plot, real or fictional. it just sounds like something that happened to you. but say it is a plot: what is the problem? no choir teacher? find one. kidnap one. bribe one from another school.

and second -- and i hate to knock anyone's ideas, but who would read this? who is your audience? how would you pitch this to a publisher? how do you think they'd react, knowing what kinds of books sell these days?

/just things to consider, listen to me or don't.

Quit being scared and make it happen.

Well, I'd read it, but I was the parent support group president for the high school choir one year when my daughter was in the choir. I just love stories about high school choirs. But, you're right, there has to be a little more of a plot.

I took a great class this past summer in "writing fiction from family stories." When I finally got my little family story fictionalized, the teacher said, "Now take your main character and your setting and change them." Oh, no, I can't part with them, I thought, but I did and came up with a better idea.

This is the first time I have attempted a novel though, and am clinging close to a personal story that probably would result in libel if I actually published it. So, I am in a similar situation. Part of me says that I will never publish this anyway, that the main value is just in writing it. The other part of me is busy brainstorming ideas on how to change the main character and the setting.

As a college student who has been in school choirs since middle school, I'd be interested in your story, as long as it goes somewhere. And, as far as all of this libel-talk goes, if it is truly fiction, that is, you've added a lot to the story, changed things, etc., you shouldn't have to worry about libel. Also, if you're like me (maybe you are, maybe you aren't!) getting the novel published isn't a priority, but writing the novel is. If that's the case for you, I don't see a problem with storming ahead with this idea!

While there IS something to be said for "writing for an audience", a great deal more is to be said about "writing for writing's sake". Who at NaNoWriMo writes for any reason other than to simply WRITE? Sure we may edit our stories down the line for publication, etc., but from November 1st to November 30th, we're simply getting it out there and working through the process.

That said, I frequently write fiction based on my own life -- the old "write what you know" rule of thumb. Change names and tinker with situations, of course, but when we write what is near and dear, deeply personal, we produce works that are MORE than read-worthy, we connect with our audience in profound ways. I say if it's rattling around in ye olde imagination, use it or lose it!

Happy writing! :o)

Be the change you want to see in your lifetime.

If you want to write about your choir- go for it. Most first novels are autobiographic. Don't worry about who will read it, my guess the same people that read the rest of the New York Times best seller list. There are selves and I do mean shelves of slice of life books. "Plucky (insert sport or interest) team overcomes adversity to triumph" is practically a genre of its own.

Don't worry about libel, that's only important when you publish and even then the offended person has to be easily identified and suffer harm. For example, I could complain if you wrote about a flabby middle aged fundraiser who wants to be an author. You would have to be much more specific and say something bad. Check out this over view for more on libel and defamation. http://www.publishlawyer.com/carousel4.htm Filing off the serial numbers and switching people around can happen in the rewrite.

Happy writing and I hope your choir concert rocks the house.

Thanks for the input.

Oh, and... IT DID. :)

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow'"

I'd sure say go for it!! My novel's going to be drawn from real experiences too. I keep thinking of the part in Anne of Green Gables (the miniseries - it's been too long since I've read the books) where Anne is told "write what you know". What better inspiration than life itself?? I think it also saves a lot of the struggle to do research and can come out more believable in the long run.

And of course I second all the previous comments about keeping it fictional, avoiding libel, blah, blah blah...

Good luck!

~~~~~
"I am constantly writing autobiography, but I have to turn it into fiction in order to give it credibility." - Katherine Patterson
~~~~~

Thanks for posting that link, Witchofnovember. It looks like I have nothing to worry about, as the character I am poking fun at in my novel died ten years ago. The important thing for me is just to write, not necessarily to publish, and there is always rewrite, as you say.

NaNo is about writing, not about publishing. Getting down and writing a story. If this gets your creative juices going, then it's a good thing for writing, a good jumping off point. Music and school -- those are good things, and if they interest you, then they're interesting.

Can you really guide your life using the tarot? No? But can you really guide your characters' lives with the tarot? I say yes.

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Can you really guide your life using the tarot? No? But can you really guide your characters' lives with the tarot? I say yes.

The trick is only picking up on things that are interesting and also adding parts to make it a work of fiction and distinguish it from the real life events.

My plots usually stem from real life; for this challenge, I'm compiling all of my biking experiences with my biking partner (he had some of them as well) into one novel ... but I'm not going to talk about the countless hours that went fine and nothing happened in. Oh good god, no, I'm only writing about the time my front wheel fell off in the middle of riding, when he pulled the wrong brake and went flying head first over the handlebars, etc. No one would want to read about just pedalling and I don't want to bore myself rigid writing it either. It'll sound like a disaster trip which never happened in one go, but it'll more entertaining.

So eliminate all parts of your tale that sound tedious. In my opinion, I think that you're running this yourselves due to a series of events is interesting and the way in which is happened is - please don't be offended - quite a dull tale. So, if it were my experience, I would forget that and start with it as this senior complaining about having to direct 4 choirs, maybe only mentioning briefly why (a "So now, just because she couldn't cope, I have to do this on top of my studies!?" sort of thing).

Its also important to remember that it is fictional and doesn't have to be - and isn't even desirable to be - a simple re-telling on the events. It sounds like, from what you've said, that these events have only just transpired; why stop there? Take it from now and put it a while into the future. To do this, I would (personally) make it so that its a week away from graduation and the choir is in a desperate state because they're not prepared for the show; the story would be a series of flashbacks from the senior's point of view, from when she found she had responsibility for the choir sticking around, to the Christmas rehearsals, the not-so-great Christmas show, the relief in January it was over that all serious practices were over before she found out the school decided to put a show on for graduation, so the chaos begins again for her. The last portion of it would show the last rehearsal, her panic that it would all go wrong, the choir having some secret rehearsals, finishing with her worrying herself sick, before it went well and they reveal they didn't want to humilate her.*

See? It never happened, but it comes from the basic idea that students are now running the choirs. If you stick to what happened, you'll grow bored recounting the tale because its just repeating experiences. Only using it as an idea gives you more interest, makes it unpredictable for yourself and protects you from later libel cases.

Hope this is of some help to you; if you needed anymore advice, either post it here or NaNoMail me.

* I apologise if this isn't plausible. I'm English, so the inner workings of American schools isn't something I'm very knowledgable about.

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