How have you mirrored real life in your fictional writing?

[gunhilltrain]

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Natalie Schafer was actually about 64 when she started with the show. (She sometime gave her birth year as 1912, not 1900.) An interesting take on her and Jim Backus. It's part of a much longer interview which is available in segments on YouTube. Who knew there was so much to say about Gilligan's Island? I watched it because I was of the age that if the TV was on, that was enough for me.

 

[TimDEnchanter]

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Oh, I wrote a story about Lovey and the other castaways once. They invented some very creative ways to pass the time until they were rescued and, like in the series, then decided to go back. Spoiler... She doesn't ever take off her hat or pearls.

 

[TimDEnchanter]

The only time I used someone like a real celebrity, I named her Cynthia Delta-Yates, from Sheffield. They do have a distinctive accent there, which she lapses into when she's excited or distracted - like at the Tony Awards. Her husband (they were estranged at the time) is Jeffrey McDonnell. You do know which company McDonnell Aircraft merged with? Hint: they built significant airliners like the DC-3. DC-6, DC-7 and so forth.

But it's not really her, of course. Although, she does regret that "Steven" talked her into doing a sequel called The Haunting II: The Ghost of Nell.

The DC (Douglas Commercial) aircraft were built by Douglas in Santa Monica California. McDonnell was based in St. Louis Missouri and built guided missiles, the original Phantom, the Banshee, the Voodo, and the command modules for the Mercury and Gemini programs. Even after the 1967 merger DC's were built in Cali, while the F-4s and later F-15s were built on the north side of Lambert Field in St. Louie.

In a less crazy world, as a teenager, I had a job loading, unloading, and cleaning old Hudsons / Venturas / Super Electras modified to Lodestar standards at the old Flying Tiger Hanger right next door to McDonnell on Banshee Road.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The DC (Douglas Commercial) aircraft were built by Douglas in Santa Monica California. McDonnell was based in St. Louis Missouri and built guided missiles, the original Phantom, the Banshee, the Voodo, and the command modules for the Mercury and Gemini programs. Even after the 1967 merger DC's were built in Cali, while the F-4s and later F-15s were built on the north side of Lambert Field in St. Louie.

In a less crazy world, as a teenager, I had a job loading, unloading, and cleaning old Hudsons / Venturas / Super Electras modified to Lodestar standards at the old Flying Tiger Hanger right next door to McDonnell on Banshee Road.

That's a lot more information than I ever knew. Interesting that there are still some DC-6s used around the world although they haven't been built since 1958. Anyway, now we know which actor I was referring to.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-6

 

[gunhilltrain]

Oh, I wrote a story about Lovey and the other castaways once. They invented some very creative ways to pass the time until they were rescued and, like in the series, then decided to go back. Spoiler... She doesn't ever take off her hat or pearls.

Yes, she seemed like the type who would keep her hat and pearls on. Apparently Sherwood Schwartz wanted Gilligan's Island to be "clean," and thus the Howells were the only ones who could have "moral" sex. It was implied rather than being stated, of course.

 

[TimDEnchanter]

A year or so after I went away to college DHL -- which had started out as an express legal document and financial instrument delivery service between Honolulu, San Francisco, and Los Angeles -- bought Petroleum Air Transport, a Seabrook Louisiana based DC-6 operator and moved the operation to St. Louis expanding into overnight package delivery.

They bought the old Flying Tiger* Hangar -- my employer moved to the nearby Old Terminal Building (both have now been destroyed) -- and the big Douglases were painted a synthesis of PATCo white and orange and DHL yellow, orange, and red, before being replaced a decade later by bright yellow Boeing 727s.

My employer's business was overwhelmingly flying auto parts for Galaxies, LTDs, and Marquis, from Detroit, Windsor, and London (Ont) to an assembly plant a mile or so down the road in Hazlewood Missouri after FoMoCo began using a just-in-time (but not always, so fly those parts to keep the line moving) inventory system.

*And Flying Tiger of course would become FedEx.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Oh, I wrote a story about Lovey and the other castaways once. They invented some very creative ways to pass the time until they were rescued and, like in the series, then decided to go back. Spoiler... She doesn't ever take off her hat or pearls.

I'd read that.

 

[AchtungNight]

Oh, I wrote a story about Lovey and the other castaways once. They invented some very creative ways to pass the time until they were rescued and, like in the series, then decided to go back. Spoiler... She doesn't ever take off her hat or pearls.

Funny, I have a character descended from a famous Oriental pirate who’s the same way about his bells. LOL.

 

[Lighthousenorth]

Some of my stories did really happen, but I changed names, locations and some other data. All stories are at least inspired by elements of my real life, but they take a different turn from reality. More like I wished they had ended

 

[R. Richard]

I put some of my personal experiences in my stories, but only where the statute of limitations has run out.

 

[TimDEnchanter]

Published elsewhere on this site:

“Let me see,” she said, grabbing the phone.

I put my head on her shoulder and kissed her neck as I watched her replay the video file again and again.

My hairy belly, continuing down to my slightly curved and erect cock still wet from her juices ...

A closeup of her …

Impaling herself, riding, grinding …

Panning up her flat belly, past her perky breasts to her face ...

“That's a clear message that you're over him,” I said, as she tapped “send.”

“I guess.”

“Yeah, well, any guy who’d dump you is a moron.”

“Thanks, you're the best brother ever.”

Paraphrased dialog but otherwise 100% true. It was our third time (in two days), and it happened the summer before her sophomore and my senior year in college. Her ex- was a moron. He had tried to pressure her into not going on a 10-day summer vacation with her family. Something that had been a tradition for many, many years.

The day before she had asked me to take some "cheesecake" pictures of her in a bikini top and really short-shorts. Her ex- had said "go and we are done", or something similar, referring to our trip. She planned on sending the pictures to him and making him realize what he would be missing.

As she posed and I took stills, we joked around, teased one another, and I responded to a dare by literally kissing -- and gently biting -- her lovely ass. Then we made love for the first time ever.

Her ex- did not know me. After a second time, we decided to video us "doing it" (without showing my face) instead.

Since her graduation from college we have revisited most of the places we went on those family vacations -- but as a couple -- and we do the things that did not occur to us, or that we were too young to do way back then. It is different ... yet totally familiar.

 

[AchtungNight]

Ok, that last post is outside my comfort zone, true or false. Nice job, fellow Monty Python fan. And congrats on being a good writer whether your story is true or not. I’m moving on now.

 

[SimonDoom]

I have a writer's theory that, if you put a tiny piece of absolute truth in even the most fantastic story, people consciously or subconsciously spot it, and they'll be prepared to suspend a million miles of disbelief for the rest of your story.

This is how I interpret the oft-misunderstood or misapplied axiom, "Write what you know." I see it as an inclusive rather than exclusive principle. It doesn't mean you should only write about things with which you have personal experience. It means your story may be better if, whatever its subject, you put what you know into it. I absolutely agree that little true-life details can do wonders for one's story.

 

[MrPixel]

I have big swaths of really funny - mostly us being goofy - IRL experiences in my most recent stories. I was reading excepts to my wife this evening, and she interrupted, "Yeah, sure I remember all of that, but where's the sex?"

"Next paragraph, dear."

 

[ElectricBlue]

This is how I interpret the oft-misunderstood or misapplied axiom, "Write what you know." I see it as an inclusive rather than exclusive principle. It doesn't mean you should only write about things with which you have personal experience. It means your story may be better if, whatever its subject, you put what you know into it. I absolutely agree that little true-life details can do wonders for one's story.

I've never considered it as "write what you know" - in my head, that's something else altogether. My notion is more in the context of suspending disbelief.

 

[AchtungNight]

And “Passion- Hollywood Nights” is published. Ahead of the rush that will surely come for the Karaoke Event itself. Same themes in this story, hope readers enjoy it.

I’m very confident and good at putting out a hot story quickly when properly motivated. Maybe I’ll do another one within the bounds of the event itself. If outside challenges allow me the opportunity.

If anyone is interested- https://literotica.com/s/passion-hollywood-nights

Edit- wrong thread. Oops. But this is my most realistic story so far, so it kinda still applies to this one.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Yeah, well, as to that "write what you know" stuff.

Here's what I knew about forest rangers when I started writing The Adventures of Ranger Ramona. They wear uniforms and they work in the woods. Mostly they seem to just drive around the state parks all day. People call them "the tree police."

Here's a comment I received on it recently.

As a retired State of Maine Forest Ranger all I can say is wow. What a great story. I could not put it down. Thank you.

I didn't know anything about Roller Derby, except that they skate in circles and knock each other down. But Queen of the Roller Derby has an unswept rating of 4.91.

I believe in writing as a learning experience. Sometimes you should write not about what you know, but what you want to know about.

 

[Pabiporffor]

I don't think it's possible to write without mirroring reality to some extent. We get our ideas from not only our own personal experiences but those confessed to us by friends and family.

 

[mpeters]

All of my stories have real world elements to them, and some of the female characters are loosely based on real women or are a combination of different women, but of course none of the events have happened IRL.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

OH MY GOD! You read my mind. I was just gonna post about this because of the new story I’m writing.

It’s based on something I’ve experienced much of my entire life, the fact that there always seems to be a lot of me about (or my doppelgängers at least).

The new story I’m writing is based on an exchange I had in my twenties with two women who mistook me for someone else who looked exactly like me…and had the same NAME. This is the exchange.

Them: (my name)! (My name)!

Me: yes?

Them: it’s me!

Me: okay?

Them: Kate’s mum!

Me: right?

Them: remember? The cakes!

I’ve decided to pop that into a story and spin it as a romance yarn, a category I’ve not been in before.

 

[Milo_Grigsby]

I draw upon my RL experiences and life extensively. I commit the (apparently) unforgivable sin of writing in first person/present tense and my stories and MCs are now mostly based in present day Arizona, where I live now, or Southern California, where I spent many formative years. Others, like Long Island Sound and Crossing the Rubicon, are set in places I have spent time in.

I draw heavily upon my own personal and professional experiences for setting and framing. Since my stories deal extensively with the internal emotional life of my MCs, sometimes using them to explore my own feelings, I find that using settings and situations that are well known to me frees me from world building or extensive research. Other characters are entirely products of my imagination, or are based on sketches of people I know, have met or have encountered in real life.

Since my RL celebrity encounters have been extremely limited, they don't figure in my story telling.

Not to change the subject, but an interesting side effect of basing my stories in my own RL setting is that I am starting to build a connected universe around these characters and stories. Delila in the Desert is referenced in Honeymoon Dee-Lite. I intend to do this more in future stories, and am considering cross-overs.