How Much Of You Leaks Into Ur Story?

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Earlier I read an Amazon book review for a popular writer, and the reviewer imagined all kinds of facts about the writer from the book.

Do you season your tales with much of yourself?

 

[oggbashan]

Earlier I read an Amazon book review for a popular writer, and the reviewer imagined all kinds of facts about the writer from the book.

Do you season your tales with much of yourself?

The millions of words written about Shakespeare from reading his works can't even agree if he was Shakespeare, where he was educated, nor what languages he understood.

If someone tried to work out 'facts' about me just from my stories on Literotica, apart from knowing I am British, the constructed biography would be contradictory, confused and probably in need of admission to a mental health institution.

Some of my stories are based on actual occurrences in my life, but which? An incident from my past could be a substantial part of the plot of one story and reappear as a trigger for a totally different story after I say to myself "What if?".

The actual occurrence could be banal such as playing cards in a 1960s Public House bar room, but "What if?" can produce many stories from that one incident. The reality is that I and others used to play cards in that bar room most Friday nights - for money but only pennies. A loss or win of the equivalent of one US dollar was massive. The competition was serious. The money wasn't - by choice and agreement.

From that Friday night card school many weekend events were organised and those events have led to many plot ideas.

Even conversations overheard from the Saloon Bar, separated from us by a head-high partition, were enough to provide plot ideas. How would a researcher find out much of me from a story based on old men reminiscing about their wartime experiences, most of which had been 'improved' beyond reality?

There was one regular in the Saloon Bar who spoke little when others boasted of what warriors they had been. He didn't need to. At each Remembrance Day parade his medals shouted loudly for him to those who could read the symbolism. Some of his war had been as a ace fighter pilot but after injury he became a pilot of covert flights into occupied France. Before D-Day he had become a British liaison officer with the French Resistance. His medals included French, Belgian and Polish ones - but how and why some were awarded he wouldn't say, and the citations were cloaked by the Official Secrets Act.

He could have been the inspiration for many thriller plots by me, if he had spoken of his exploits - but he didn't.

How would a researcher connect him with me? I never met him as a friend, just as someone living in the same town who was only remarkable on one day a year, in the Remembrance Day parade.

 

[Tsotha]

You can make a few educated guesses about an author, perhaps, but thinking that you can create a flawless image in your mind is a bit insane. Each story is a small window that may give you true insight...But it could also feed you "false" information.

You can tell what interests a writer by reading her stories, unless writing is a chore for her. And you can read the character's thoughts, and those were once things that the author was thinking, but unless she is a poor writer, you cannot tell if those thoughts are things she agrees/disagrees with.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Earlier I read an Amazon book review for a popular writer, and the reviewer imagined all kinds of facts about the writer from the book.

Do you season your tales with much of yourself?

Yes, but heavily remixed. Somebody who knew me well could look at my writing and pick a fair bit of where the story came from; OTOH, I don't think a stranger would figure out much detail from mine.

Some things I do lift straight from real life with very little alteration. I included an anecdote about a small-town doctor and dentist who used to get together and finish off the dentist's leftover nitrous oxide, and another about a soap-opera character who accidentally regrew his leg; both of those are closely based on stories related to me as true.

Funny thing is, somebody who knew me really well but didn't know the timings would pick a few connections that don't actually exist. A family member of mine died suddenly from an undiagnosed medical condition, and I wrote a story where an important character died suddenly from an undiagnosed medical condition - but I wrote that part of the story about a week before my relative died, and I'd planned it several months before that.

There was another episode where I wrote a snarky lawyer character who liked to cook; about a week after it posted we met some of my partner's relatives, people I'd never met before. One of them was the spitting image of my fictional lawyer - appearance, personality, fondness for cooking. He was a lawyer (though in a different field) and he even had the same first name. I ended up putting an edit through and changing the character's name to reduce the resemblance.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I just wrote a story that includes some Vietnam experiences. In the story the PC is a heavy equipment operator with the 554th Red Horse Civil Engineers Squadron. IRL I spent 90 days working for the civil engineers erecting steel, and IRL my old man owned a site prep construction company with bulldozers, loaders, draglines, etc. I was an 'oiler' but know a lot about the business. My old man is the real guy who chased rattlesnakes with the bulldozer.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Accidentally regrew his leg, BrambleT.?

How... How, er did this happen... Please. I am now fascinated.

I believe there have been a very very very few miracles attested officially by any church/religious group about the regrowing of limbs. Only one that I can think of off the top of my head - some Canadian(?) young guy a long time ago...

D.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Accidentally regrew his leg, BrambleT.?

How... How, er did this happen... Please. I am now fascinated.

I believe there have been a very very very few miracles attested officially by any church/religious group about the regrowing of limbs. Only one that I can think of off the top of my head - some Canadian(?) young guy a long time ago...

D.

Friend of a friend was an actor in a popular soap. The character lost his leg to a bomb, in a big end-of-season finale. After that, they had to get tricky whenever filming him below the waist - I think they strapped his leg to tuck the foot up behind him a la "Day of the Jackal", or something like that.

But it was inconvenient, so once they'd established that his leg was missing they just avoided showing him from the waist down.

A couple of seasons went by, lots of other exciting things happened as they're wont to do in soapies, and everybody forgot that Our Hero was supposed to be missing a leg. By the time they remembered, they'd shown him on the beach, in shorts. Fortunately, nobody noticed - or if they did, it didn't get far, because this was back before the internet.

I liked the story enough that I stole it for chapter 9 of my "Stringed Instrument".

 

[StrangeLife]

Sixteen inches of rock hard unyielding manhood that can go all night and climax every ten minutes. Oh that's totally me leaking into the story



But seriously - I write what I know, so when deciding how my characters react to whatever may befall them I draw on my own experiences. As such a therapist could probably say a lot about me by reading my stories...

 

[MeredithEighty8]

It varies depending on the story.

 

[sr71plt]

It varies depending on the story.

With me, as well.

 

[SecondCircle]

Quite a bit and not a lot. Difficult to explain. It does vary from story to story. I think it'd be a bit hard for any author to say that pieces of them fall in to their stories. The old "write what you know" thing and all.

Sometimes, my characters are so out in left field compared to me, it's hard to say they are me, but in a way they are. They are usually the people from the world through my eyes. Some aren't even the same gender as me.

My themes are certainly me. Whether its the sexual themes, plot, or in some (or most away from Lit) the horror.

But that's all so general that it could pertain to anyone. If I was in my story world, would I ever meet myself? Not likely.

 

[HeyAll]

None whatsoever.

I have no connections with any of the characters I've ever written.

 

[sr71plt]

None whatsoever.

I have no connections with any of the characters I've ever written.

Or settings or plots/dilemmas/resolutions?

 

[Tx Tall Tales]

Probably more than I care to admit.

Most of my characters are amalgamations of people I've known, and fantasy. Dialogue is based on how I understand people to talk, commonly differing for different regions and social strata, as well as age. I tend to listen to people speaking carefully, cataloging information away for later.

Locations are often based on places I've been to for extended periods. For that reason, most will be based in different areas of Texas and the east coast (Particularly DC area, Baltimore, and NY). I've been fortunate to travel extensively growing up and in my job, so I have exposure to many locales that creep into my work.

Character reactions are based on how I've seen real people react, more often than not. Everyone around me, whether they know it of not (mostly not) is an inspiration for my characterization. Especially longer series, where it would be hard to maintain consistent characters if I didn't know them well.

The situations are where the most external input comes in. Plot ideas from TV, from movies, from things I read, from personal interactions, all go into the gray-area mixing bowl; who knows what will pour out?

As an example, I was on a high-school campout. I was an experienced camper, and when a storm came through and several tents collapsed, my Boy Scout 6-man Voyager tent was invaded by 4 girls. One I had a crush on was the furthest away. Another one I ended up making out with in the middle of the night. It ruined any chance I had with the girl I really liked. This scenario was the inspiration for the Last Boy Scout, although other than the storm and wet girls crawling into my tent, not much was based on real people. Except the sisters, shame on me. I never got anywhere with either one of them, in real life.

If any of the people on that campout read the story, I'd probably be busted.

Then again, sometimes I just want to push the envelope. Go beyond my comfort area, and see what I can do there. These often have nothing to do with my own feelings, emotions. or experiences.

 

[glanglais]

Earlier I read an Amazon book review for a popular writer, and the reviewer imagined all kinds of facts about the writer from the book.

Do you season your tales with much of yourself?

I do.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

An awful lot. My earliest stories were quasi-autobiographical. My later stories are more fictional but seasoned with references to my surroundings, environment, experiences, fantasies and preferences. Anyone who knew me would be able to call me out if they read what I have published here.

 

[hoo_hoo_boo]

I have nothing to promote and nothing to hide. I write what I like. "Me" stories aren't my thing, so I have nothing to exaggerate. I simply write what I like. No one would guess though. I'm far too reserved for anyone to believe I wrote anything yet they know of my nonerotic stories. Had them published in the daily newspaper- won awards for some stories much to my amazement and horror- I like anonymity.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Thanks, Bramblethorn. Gave me a chuckle when I read it.

 

[Tsotha]

A couple of seasons went by, lots of other exciting things happened as they're wont to do in soapies, and everybody forgot that Our Hero was supposed to be missing a leg. By the time they remembered, they'd shown him on the beach, in shorts. Fortunately, nobody noticed - or if they did, it didn't get far, because this was back before the internet.

I liked the story enough that I stole it for chapter 9 of my "Stringed Instrument".

Fascinating. Now I have to read this story. Too bad I'll go in with that in mind.

 

[RoyceConnors]

I'm not sure how much of 'me' gets into my stories. I write characters that are nothing like me in any way, making it difficult to know if I snuck in there somewhere. I try to avoid it for the most part and concentrate on creating an original characters with certain likes/dislikes, morals and values and such.

I know in some situations, I have written a scene for a character and it is something I would do, or say, but whether that is actually me, I'm not sure.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Fascinating. Now I have to read this story. Too bad I'll go in with that in mind.

It's not much of a spoiler for the rest of it - he's a side character who only shows up in that one chapter.

 

[A_Little_Show]

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