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Story Ideas – Fiction Inspiration From True Stories
By Deb Gallardo
Our lives may not be as glamorous as those of movie stars, royalty or other fabulously wealthy folks, but no one’s life lacks drama. Anyone with children and teens can testify to the truth of this. But even darlings of the press don’t have lives that are inherently interesting without someone focusing on certain aspects of their lives. The truth is, real life is not necessarily the stuff of fiction until it’s altered according to the rules of good story telling. Dialogue doesn’t mirror real conversations, characters need to be fully-realized, and real-life situations need to be altered so as not to give rise to a libel suit.
At suite101.com, Jennifer Jensen offers advice to writers using real life as a basis for stories. Here are the bare bones of her article, but be sure to read the whole article to get the full benefit of her expertise.
- Fiction is not real life!
- Use true life stories as starting points for fictional stories.
- Is the true story significant enough?
- Fictional dialogue needs to sound real, not be real.
- Characters need to be fully realized.
- Real people shouldn’t be recognizable.
Read the entire article at Story Ideas from True Stories
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