I am musing about writing fiction. I would like get help on the following questions:
What forums to ask the following questions can you recommend?
What is the general rule on including real living people in fiction? I’m afraid that it’s hard and fast “Don’t.” Where does it become ok to include real people in fiction? (sometime after they die?) Is it ok if fictional character strongly resembles a living person, but some details are left out so that one can write it off as a coincidence?
How many threads to the story can I have? The more the merrier? E.g. suppose that I write a story about a scientist that designs an AI to save the world, but instead bringing the doom upon us all (or vice versa). Would it be good if they are pursuing a romantic interest at the same time? What about solving a major philosophical problem, too? Where do we stop?
If I would like to make a story split between two interleaving timelines: e.g. the “future” and the “past” timeline. One chapter is in the “future”, then the next one in the “past”; what should be the natural way to arrange the passage of time in those timelines: a) parallel (time goes forward in both threads) or b) diverging threads (time goes forward in “future”, backwards in the “past”). Here’s the illustration:
It’s pretty common in fiction these days to have a romance plot and a mystery plot running simultaneously. It’s probably worth your while to study what cues authors give to help the reader stay oriented. Beta readers are good, too—if you’re going that route, ask them to tell you if they start getting confused, and if so, where. (Second-hand information: beta readers are more useful for identifying problems than for suggesting solutions.)
You might need to work on plausibility if you’re adding threads, especially if your main characters are deeply involved in all of them. Does your philosophical problem have something to do with the AI? With the romance?
Rowling’s A Casual Vacancy (recently released, not fantasy, depressing) does an impressive job of tracking the consequences of many goals and consequences through a large cast of characters.
I think time could go either way in the past. I assume you’re talking about flashbacks where time goes forward in each flashback, and your concern is what order to put the flashbacks in. Off the top of my head, I think the question is what you’re trying to build suspense about—is it revealing a root cause for the whole situation? Flashbacks in reverse order. Or is it revealing the whole sequence of your story? Flashbacks in forward order.
I recommend research on the flashbacks problem. I assume someone (among all the books and discussion boards about how to write) has addressed it, but I’ve never seen it done. Also, how are flashbacks handled in your favorite books with flashbacks? Reading like a reader isn’t the same are reading like a writer.
Ok, I guess the more the merrier, the limiting factor being how much of it I can tie into a coherent story.
I assume you’re talking about flashbacks where time goes forward in each flashback, and your concern is what order to put the flashbacks in.
Yes, that’s what I was trying to say. I was afraid if flashbacks in reverse order would just confuse the reader: in each subsequent flashback you expect to learn what happens next, but get to know what happened before instead.
I asked about flashbacks on my blog, and there are a few comments.
The technical thing I’ve seen writers talk about the most is point of view, which I suppose is easier because it can be addressed at the sentence level, but possibly there should be more about wrangling chunks of story.
What is the general rule on including real living people in fiction?
Standard practice is to change names and at least some identifying details; if practical it might also be a good idea to get permission first. Writing semi-fictionalized stories based on real people and events has a long and honorable history (see Jack Kerouac or Hunter S. Thompson), but it’s wise to tweak identifying features enough that people won’t automatically assume you’re documenting a true story.
I’m not a lawyer, but in most jurisdictions my impression is that you’re in a better position to handle possible challenges if the people you’re writing about are public figures; libel laws are usually weaker for people in the public eye.
Fiction writing advice
I am musing about writing fiction. I would like get help on the following questions:
What forums to ask the following questions can you recommend?
What is the general rule on including real living people in fiction? I’m afraid that it’s hard and fast “Don’t.” Where does it become ok to include real people in fiction? (sometime after they die?) Is it ok if fictional character strongly resembles a living person, but some details are left out so that one can write it off as a coincidence?
How many threads to the story can I have? The more the merrier? E.g. suppose that I write a story about a scientist that designs an AI to save the world, but instead bringing the doom upon us all (or vice versa). Would it be good if they are pursuing a romantic interest at the same time? What about solving a major philosophical problem, too? Where do we stop?
If I would like to make a story split between two interleaving timelines: e.g. the “future” and the “past” timeline. One chapter is in the “future”, then the next one in the “past”; what should be the natural way to arrange the passage of time in those timelines: a) parallel (time goes forward in both threads) or b) diverging threads (time goes forward in “future”, backwards in the “past”). Here’s the illustration:
Book timeline
TvTropes has some things to say about that.
The TV Tropes forums, especially the “writer’s block” and “world building” sections.
It’s pretty common in fiction these days to have a romance plot and a mystery plot running simultaneously. It’s probably worth your while to study what cues authors give to help the reader stay oriented. Beta readers are good, too—if you’re going that route, ask them to tell you if they start getting confused, and if so, where. (Second-hand information: beta readers are more useful for identifying problems than for suggesting solutions.)
You might need to work on plausibility if you’re adding threads, especially if your main characters are deeply involved in all of them. Does your philosophical problem have something to do with the AI? With the romance?
Rowling’s A Casual Vacancy (recently released, not fantasy, depressing) does an impressive job of tracking the consequences of many goals and consequences through a large cast of characters.
I think time could go either way in the past. I assume you’re talking about flashbacks where time goes forward in each flashback, and your concern is what order to put the flashbacks in. Off the top of my head, I think the question is what you’re trying to build suspense about—is it revealing a root cause for the whole situation? Flashbacks in reverse order. Or is it revealing the whole sequence of your story? Flashbacks in forward order.
I recommend research on the flashbacks problem. I assume someone (among all the books and discussion boards about how to write) has addressed it, but I’ve never seen it done. Also, how are flashbacks handled in your favorite books with flashbacks? Reading like a reader isn’t the same are reading like a writer.
Ok, I guess the more the merrier, the limiting factor being how much of it I can tie into a coherent story.
Yes, that’s what I was trying to say. I was afraid if flashbacks in reverse order would just confuse the reader: in each subsequent flashback you expect to learn what happens next, but get to know what happened before instead.
I asked about flashbacks on my blog, and there are a few comments.
The technical thing I’ve seen writers talk about the most is point of view, which I suppose is easier because it can be addressed at the sentence level, but possibly there should be more about wrangling chunks of story.
There is no such thing as the reader—it’s amazing how much readers vary, even though there are some commonalities.
As far as I can tell, the big deal for me is whether a flashback is an interesting story in itself.
Standard practice is to change names and at least some identifying details; if practical it might also be a good idea to get permission first. Writing semi-fictionalized stories based on real people and events has a long and honorable history (see Jack Kerouac or Hunter S. Thompson), but it’s wise to tweak identifying features enough that people won’t automatically assume you’re documenting a true story.
I’m not a lawyer, but in most jurisdictions my impression is that you’re in a better position to handle possible challenges if the people you’re writing about are public figures; libel laws are usually weaker for people in the public eye.