In my current writing project I am using a lot of
history. Not ancient history, at least not to me, but a decade not that long ago, where the younger generation
would have only the dimmest of memories- if any memories at all. The 1980s. The
book is called Satanic Panic and
deals with the hysteria epidemic dealing with Satanism and Satanic Ritual Abuse
cases, which popped up all over the decade- from hypnotically recovering
repressed memories, to “satanic” heavy metal music, to people receiving jail
terms for “satanic” activities in day care centers.
In my investigation, I have come across actual
murder cases and other forms of abuse that have been linked to a various
“occult” activities such as a very real cult in Matamoros who indulged in
cocaine trafficking. Now with this dynamite material, I am face with the
quandary, how closely to the facts of these cases do I adhere to in the text?
While many of participants are dead- the drug ring
in Mexico ended with a police shootout and a building catching on fire- there
are many who still are alive and have been negatively affected by these events.
One of the cases involving a murder of teenage girl took place in my hometown
and I know members of her family. How much should I use?
Changing the names is the easiest part. The easiest
way to avoid litigation, at least. But often enough, the events of the story are
so close to reality that one cannot help but make connections. Thus how much do
you want to change it? The second easiest method to distance text is to change
location.
While a move from one large city to another might, say, New York to
San Francisco, might not make that big of a difference. If you change the local
from the urban to a rural one (or vice versa) you might get surprisingly good
results.
One odd thing I’ve run across is that often people
will think events from real life sound “too fake”. That coincidence which
actually occurred where too far out to actually happened. That dumb decisions a
person made was far too stupid for a real person to make (Never underestimate
the ability of people to make idiotic decisions under pressure). One thing that
springs to mind is The Contest
episode from Seinfeld, where the gang bets on how long they can go without
committing the sin of onanism. While sounding completely ridiculous, it is
apparently based on an actual contest that co-creator Larry David participated
in.
This leads to my final though on the subject. Don’t
let the actual facts prevent you from telling a good story. If everyone is
telling you that a plot point sounds ridiculous, change it. Even if it actually
happened. Don’t let reality keep you from writing a great tale.
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