This is something I've been mulling over for a while, and given semi-recent events, is something that has been talked about quite a bit lately here on Mibba - and other fanfiction-hosting sites.
Sometimes, you like to keep things as close to "real" as possible with your writing, when writing about real people. Sometimes, the people we write about have significant others in their lives, and children.
Where do we draw the line on invading the personal lives of those we write about? You can say it's all right to warp a person's character simply because the person you write is a character...but is there a limit? Is it okay to already be writing about Bandit Lee Way as a teenager, and her exploits there? Is it okay to write Adrienne Armstrong as a complete b*tch simply because it works for the story? Or is it better to not put too much focus on these real people, who never asked for the fame that came along with those they just happened to be related to?
On LiveJournal, several communities have a strict "no writing about the kids" rule, meaning they can be mentioned in passing here or there, but they can't be main characters, nor particularly integral parts of the stories' plots. It's also usually frowned upon to give large story parts to wives / girlfriends / boyfriends / husbands / etc of band people, if they aren't also band people themselves. (Ex: writing about Ray Toro's wife as opposed to writing about Gerard Way's wife, Lindsey, who is also a musician and in the public eye in her own right.) Do you agree with this rule?
I'm just curious to know what everyone thinks about all of this. I've seen people on this site say it's never okay to do more than mention the children or significant others, or any real family members, and likewise; I've seen stories written solely about them. Where does your opinion fall?
Sometimes, you like to keep things as close to "real" as possible with your writing, when writing about real people. Sometimes, the people we write about have significant others in their lives, and children.
Where do we draw the line on invading the personal lives of those we write about? You can say it's all right to warp a person's character simply because the person you write is a character...but is there a limit? Is it okay to already be writing about Bandit Lee Way as a teenager, and her exploits there? Is it okay to write Adrienne Armstrong as a complete b*tch simply because it works for the story? Or is it better to not put too much focus on these real people, who never asked for the fame that came along with those they just happened to be related to?
On LiveJournal, several communities have a strict "no writing about the kids" rule, meaning they can be mentioned in passing here or there, but they can't be main characters, nor particularly integral parts of the stories' plots. It's also usually frowned upon to give large story parts to wives / girlfriends / boyfriends / husbands / etc of band people, if they aren't also band people themselves. (Ex: writing about Ray Toro's wife as opposed to writing about Gerard Way's wife, Lindsey, who is also a musician and in the public eye in her own right.) Do you agree with this rule?
I'm just curious to know what everyone thinks about all of this. I've seen people on this site say it's never okay to do more than mention the children or significant others, or any real family members, and likewise; I've seen stories written solely about them. Where does your opinion fall?
August 25th, 2009 at 05:35am