Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Borrowed from Life


At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

After pondering life, the universe, and everything, I decided I don't have the brain capacity to ask a question that hasn't been done to death. So, I went a bit more mundane...

What if you wrote a book where one of the main characters was someone close to you? And then, what if that person realized they were in your book, but they thought they were a completely different character (than the one you based on them)?

23 comments:

  1. Hi Liz - someone would be wrong! I'm not sure I'd like the conversation though - cheers Hilary

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  2. Ahhh. Interesting question. I wonder if I could keep my mouth shut?

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    1. I guess it would depend upon how they took it.

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  3. I'd be laughing to myself, and probably ask them what they thought of the character based on them.

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  4. Strong characters make great stories which ensures the book sells. QED No insult intended buddy would be my reply.

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  5. I guess it would depend on whether they liked who they thought they were. If they did, I'd probably keep my mouth shut.

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  6. I guess it would depend on the perspective held by people.

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  7. I’d laugh and say, “Nope that’s not you.”

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  8. I can see that causing a family rift. Chrys has the right idea. ~grin~ And this quandary reminds me of David Sedaris talking about his family, how nothing is sacred.

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  9. I would hope that the character they thought they were was someone that they enjoyed being :)

    betty

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  10. I would have to set them straight....haha.

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  11. Ha! I think I'd play it honest, but coy. I'd tell them that all of my characters were based in part on people I have known and leave it at that.

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  12. I would hope we would both laugh about it. But I also have a touchy relative who would probably not take it very well. Well, so be it. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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    1. Perhaps you could mess with that relative a bit ;)

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  13. OHwell...Too bad for them! Depending on the friend they will either chuckle or not speak to me, but then, they would not be a true friend if they chose the latter

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    1. Yeah, with you, I think they should expect a bit of a tweaking in a novel ;)

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  14. Hmmm totally would depend on if I liked the person or not how I responded, I think.

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I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.