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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 412
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So, I recently saw a tshirt that I desperately want. It has printed on it, "This is so going in my novel!"
A lot of my friends know I write, and know (because I tell them) that some of the things they say are totally getting mentally filed for me to have a character say one day. I have not run into any issue with this, but... has anyone had problems with friends or family guarding themselves and the things they say to avoid being in your books?
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 279
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I have a sweatshirt that says that! My hubby got me a more racy coffee mug that says "Be careful or I'll write you into my novel and kill you."
I only started writing in the past year and I haven't run into that...yet. It will come, I'm sure. I have a friend in the UK that get's tickled when I put a small reference to him in my work...usually it's stupid like a town name or I make a character from his hometown of Henley-on-Thames.
The little things that make a person's day...
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 214
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LOL! I had an ex-S.O. ask me about my novel, "I'm not in it, am I --?"
I asked him if he thought he met the criteria of the flinty-eyed romantic hero.
Ended that conversation quickly.
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 279
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LOL! I only have two exes and yes, they should probably be worried. If Taylor Swift can sing about hers and I can cast mine into the role of hapless idiot who provides comic relief.
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Joined: 3/7/2011
Posts: 38
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I tell my family: When there's a writer in the family, nothing is secret or sacred.
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 412
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I void warranties, funny you should mention that. Your photo looks EXACTLY like an ex of mine who's in one of my books, as the heroine actually, mostly positive stuff all (except for the split personality, but hey). I'm actually leery to write it, because I'm worried my wife might recognize that the character is an ex, and be upset that I'm using her.
Also, I totally want that mug.
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Joined: 3/14/2011
Posts: 80
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I've used friend's names, but the characters never match the real person's personality.
I have taken great joy in a spoof I'm working on (posted here as Tears of a Clown) where I use my ex's name Rich for the "bad guy". The heroine only calls him Dick and I get to make tons of jokes 
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 244
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I have a t-shirt that says "Be careful or you'll end up in my novel."
I haven't noticed friends/family being guarded about what they say just because I'm a writer. I had a prof in grad school read a quote (which this will be rough paraphrase) that said, "When a writer is born, the family is screwed."
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 279
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Alexander, don't worry. My hair is no longer red and it's mostly gone so any resemblance to your ex I might have had is pretty much shot until next year some time.
It's funny though, since this post I've actively put someone I met a long time ago into the main male lead of my romance, Bon Voyage. I fessed up and told him about it yesterday and he loved the idea, the freak. The guy is a walking Ego.
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 102
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I find the people who should be concerned aren't. Plus, the upside to taking years to write a novel is that when the person reads their own words, they've long since forgotten that conversation, and don't recognize the words as their own. Just remember to keep the notebook evidence linking the words to the speaker under lock and key with strict instructions to destroy them upon your death.
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Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
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I haven't noticed anyone being guarded, but then I'm noticably dense.
At one point I put a critque conversation directly into the conversation it was critiquing. It worked, and wound up hilarious. My crit partner was amazed at the former, and gratified at the latter.
I actually used a former employer and coworker in Crowbar Girl. The coworker read it and said 'oh, my god, that's HIM'. The former employer said the same thing. Neither was upset, although both thought I idealized them and got the other spot on.
I get my family and coworkers *constantly* telling me how my current work situation would make 'such a good novel'. Some of them get pretty insistent about it. One of them keeps wanting me to write articles for the newsletter. They don't seem to understand the difference between writing fiction and writing a news column. 
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 412
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Robert, having written the company newsletter for 3 different companies in the past, I can see absolutely no difference between writing the company newsletter and writing fiction. 
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Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
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@Alexander - OK, I don't often actually laugh out loud, but you got me.
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Joined: 4/3/2011
Posts: 13
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I saw a guy holding hands with his wife at a writer's conference.
He was wearing a t-shirt that said...
"My wife writes romance novels. I benefit from research."
Talk about supportive!
People kept walking up to him and telling him how much they liked the shirt. He was grinning from ear to ear.
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Joined: 3/4/2011
Posts: 58
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Addie, I SO need to get that shirt for my husband. He would totally wear it.
As for the topic, my students know I troll the class rosters for unusual first names to use in my sci-fi novels. Most of them beg to have their names chosen, even if the characters are nothing like them. I ended up asking two students if they minded their names going to villains. They both thought that was SO COOL!
On the downside, I had a friend once who read one of my short stories and was certain she was the foolish, naive protagonist who got herself into trouble by doing something stupid. She was extremely hurt by it, and it caused a week-long rift in our friendship that had to be mediated by a mutual friend of ours. In reality, I wasn't thinking of her at all when I wrote the parts that most offended her. So, the risk might not be that we WILL use friends and family in our novels, but that they might THINK we are using them when we aren't.
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