Basis

[milfman23]

Hi fellow writers,

When you think of a story, do you base on real events or is it completely made up? Also do you bases the characters on real life people (celeb category not included). I always try to base my female characters in particular on pornstars so I can refer back to them for a description.

 

[Red_Herring4]

You should take whatever approach you feel most comfortable with. I prefer the freedom of a completely fictional story, but there's familiarity and security in drawing on real-life events. Writers on this forum have found success using both approaches.

You can certainly base characters on porn stars, but I've found that readers prefer to imagine the main character's appearance on their own. Better, I think, to provide a general description and let the reader fill in the blanks with his or her own preferences.

Personally, I don't base my female characters on porn stars for two reasons: 1) there are no porn stars who are fish, 2) people claim (wrongly, I might add) that all fish look alike and that there is no benefit to comparing a female protagonist to a specific fish because it does nothing to paint a picture in the reader's mind. I mean, I wrote a story about my friend Vanessa, whom I clearly described as an Atlantic salmon, and a reader posted a comment calling her a Chinook salmon. WTF? Very disheartening.

 

[SimonDoom]

Most of my characters and plots are completely made up and not based on anything real. I've written some stories that are based loosely on real people, with their permission. I've written a few stories where in my mind the character looks like a certain model or other person. It's very much a matter of taste.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I often find a photo on the Net of a person, generally not a celeb. I find it helps me focus my thoughts.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Hi fellow writers,

Hi

When you think of a story, do you base on real events or is it completely made up?

I’ve done both and all points in between.

Also do you bases the characters on real life people (celeb category not included).

I’ve included real people (people I know, not celebrities) and amalgams of real people in many stories. Sometimes it’s just their physical appearance, sometimes their character. Sometimes they are playing themselves.

I always try to base my female characters in particular on pornstars so I can refer back to them for a description.

I only did this once, by request. And spent most of the story trying hard not to give away who she was.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Personally, I don't base my female characters on porn stars for two reasons: 1) there are no porn stars who are fish, 2) people claim (wrongly, I might add) that all fish look alike and that there is no benefit to comparing a female protagonist to a specific fish because it does nothing to paint a picture in the reader's mind. I mean, I wrote a story about my friend Vanessa, whom I clearly described as an Atlantic salmon, and a reader posted a comment calling her a Chinook salmon. WTF? Very disheartening.

Em

 

[Red_Herring4]

Fuck, that's hot.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Fuck, that's hot.

Did you answer this thread as you thought it was about bass ?

Em

 

[Red_Herring4]

Did you answer this thread as you thought it was about bass ?

I may have misread the thread title, yes.

 

[Blind_Justice]

As someone who mainly dabbles in SF and Fantasy, my stories contain a lot of made-up scenarios. I am in the enviable position of being able to shape people, places and even history itself as I need them.

The trick to writing GOOD Fantasy or Science Fiction is to make everything look plausible and grounded enough. Sure, my mages could erase an enemy from existence with a snap of their fingers, but they have wants and needs and flaws like everyone else. Shilana from "Leo and the Dragon" is a racist. Rhys from "Mud and Magic" is socially awkward and thus far incapable of committing to a serious relationship. Oh, and he likes to sacrifice his own well-being to protect others. Seriously, the guy alone had more serious injuries and brushes with death than many of my frontline fighters combined.

Imay suck at writing yex scenes, but I do get tons of praise for my characters and world building.

Tip for the OP: Take notes! Write character sheets for your named participants! Grant them personality traits, likes and dislikes. You'll be amazed how much a simple quirk like "vanity" can help make your characters come alive.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

My characters are entirely fictional people who exist only in my mind, they don't even hold a basis of inspiration from anyone I know personally or otherwise. I have only one instance of basing a character off myself and... I really disliked it, to the point I made a very conscious effort to make her a separate entity of her own design entirely even after that fact.

The situations, settings and worlds I design are also entirely fictitious. I might branch out and write some slice of life drivel in the future to publish here for kicks, but as of right now, I much rather prefer the escape from reality. I don't tend to write about characters or scenes that could plausibly exist in the real world. I enjoy fantasy, and a big part of that is leaving our world behind.

It's alllll fabricated for me.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Hi fellow writers,

When you think of a story, do you base on real events or is it completely made up? Also do you bases the characters on real life people (celeb category not included). I always try to base my female characters in particular on pornstars so I can refer back to them for a description.

My stories are nearly always reality based or completely fictional, and I blur those elements. I'd never ever use a celebrity or porn star for inspiration, but will usually find a photo that looks like my character, unless she's reality based and I have memory to rely on. I write what I know, and use my imagination for the rest!

 

[MillieDynamite]

My stories can be considered figments of my imagination. Even when they are based on real events, real people, they are still wholly from my mind and not at all like real events. The stories with prostitutes are from things told to me, then spun into something else. Hence, the disclaimer, "names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to any person, living or dead, is merely coincidental."

 

[SamScribble]

The characters in my stories are straight from the cluttered corners of my brain. But, that said, I'm sure that they are partly constructed from bits of people I have met, known, observed. They are certainly not based on porn stars. I don't think I know any porn stars.

 

[Euphony]

Why limit your creativities to a common set of practices?

I've used:

Personal experiences
Interviews
Stories I've been told
Embellished (for fiction) events that were enough on the cusp to almost have happened and so inspire a story
Scholarly Research
Pop sci
Self help books
Photographs both real & ai
Song lyrics
Movies, art, tv, etc.

and a thousand other things that just happen in life.

As long as you still find needed inspiration, do what works.

Keeping my creativity muscles strong requires pulling from a variety of sources with the way my particular brain is constructed.

 

[ronde]

Hi fellow writers,

When you think of a story, do you base on real events or is it completely made up? Also do you bases the characters on real life people (celeb category not included). I always try to base my female characters in particular on pornstars so I can refer back to them for a description.

My general answer is yes, yes, and yes.

To be more specific, if I'm writing about a time period involving some significant history, I include real events in order to give the story some reality. If I'm writing sci-fi, it's mostly made up but with enough easily understood tech to let the reader imagine that it could really happen.

If it's just a general story in any genre, I make up most of it.

My characters are usually based on people or parts of people I know or have known. I carve off a little here and a little there, and then glue the parts back together to make my characters. My character descriptions are sometimes stereotypes, some my fantasies, and some are actual people.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Most of my female characters are based upon women I have known and admired throughout my life. Their situations and escapades are entirely made up though.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Em

 

[Bramblethorn]

On the OP: my stories usually have some kind of real-life spark, but beyond that the events are fictional. For instance, one began with an incident where my partner was in a café and overheard an older man and younger woman at the next table working out the expectations for their sugar-daddy arrangement. I thought that was an interesting scenario and put it together with some thoughts I'd been having about how money can change friendships, and wanting to write something with openly autistic characters.

 

[PennameWombat]

A few of my characters take basic physical characteristics from people I've encountered, in some cases the 'author's trick' of people I've seen in coffee shops . But none of my stories are 'based' on real people or real events.

I do use aspects of my life, for example, I have plenty of characters who are computer programmers or in studies or professions such as math, accounting, engineering. Because I can build settings that read reasonably true, to offer 'grounding' around imaginary plots and sexual situations and events.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That’s a squid, hun .

You are looking for

 

[Bramblethorn]

That’s a squid, hun .

You are looking for

In the dark, a tentacle's a tentacle.

 

[EmilyMiller]

In the dark, a tentacle's a tentacle.

Yet again - wait for May 25 and Caputpedes. It may include more than one type of coleoid.

Em

 

[Kumquatqueen]

There's a few of my stories which are true or the truth just tidied up a bit, where I'm pretty sure the people wouldn't mind. Otherwise, I try to ensure any character is based on at least three real people and ideally looking like a stranger, so anyone I know who ever finds these stories can't jump to conclusions about themselves or me. (I once left in the names of four neighbours, when names needed mentioning. A friend who read the story found that hysterically funny...)

Especially when I just need a throwaway character, I'll just look up and pick someone from nearby.

I rarely find porn stars very attractive - too much makeup.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I rarely find porn stars very attractive - too much makeup.

Some classic stars were hot.

I’m thinking Desiree Cousteau, the sensational Cathy Menard and especially the fabulous Brigitte LaHaie.

As for modern stars Little Caprice looks decent…I’ve heard. I…I wouldn’t really know. It’s…er…what a friend told me. Yes, that’ll do. A friend told me.