Naming the inspiration?

[Rob_Royale]

So, in the work I'm currently writing, I'm imagining a particular porn star as my main character. I describe her as much as I ever do, describing enough but not too much. I do a little opening paragraph for my stories, just to let the reader know what he/she is in for. I was thinking about including my porn star inspiration's, name, in this paragraph, NOT within the body of the work. So the reader can really visualize what I'm imagining of the character with a simple Google search.
I'm of two minds on the idea now and was wondering what others thought of the idea. Good? Tacky?
Please don't give me a "it's your story" answer, I would like opinions.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I wouldn't personally. The reader might prefer to read your story with their favourite porn stars as the main character and knowing she's not would spoil it.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'll give you my answer. No. I would not do this.

Fanfiction and celebrity fiction is one thing. People disagree about the ethics of it, and I'm conflicted. I don't think it's right to trade off the persona of a porn star and write a story about her without her permission, especially if you name her as an inspiration for the story. It's a close call in the case of very famous porn stars, but I don't think most qualify as "celebrities."

I wrote a story that was based visually, in my mind's eye, on a mature erotic model in her 40s whose work I liked. But I didn't use her name and I don't think anybody but me would know who the story is based on. I don't see anything wrong with doing that.

The funny thing is it turned out she's a Literotica reader, and when I found out about that I ended up telling her privately that the story was based on her and she liked that and enjoyed the story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I wouldn't. Don't assume anybody else knows who your porn star is. There's no need to give her a credit, since you're writing a story, she's in a video - she's an inspiration, so what? Who needs to know, who cares? This is over-thinking, I reckon.

 

[MajorRewrite]

I’ve named women who inspire characters in the story itself. “Carmen had a smoky Hispanic hotness that reminded Jake of the model Adriana Lima.” I don’t think any readers have complained.

I always have a real woman in mind when I create a main character. I collect a few hot pics from the net and use them to fuel my imagination.

 

[lovecraft68]

I would-and I believe have-done it. Porn is far from the dirty secret room tucked into the back of the video store it was back in pre internet days. Porn hub was the first thing to blow up during lockdown. People who read dirty stories are also likely to enjoy porn, and although we do have a lot of porn stars who work for themselves and not big studios, the popular ones are recognizable by name to most.

I mentioned in the closing author's notes in two stories that one was based on a Jodie West short clip and another Zoe Holloway for inspiration to make the scene into a full length story.

In taboo, I would be surprised if a reader hadn't heard of Jodie West, Cherie Deville or others who excel at the role of mom or step mom. I have created several of my own porn stars and name drop them in other stories, but occasionally mix in real porn stars in mention, not using them as characters.

This is no different than mentioning any other public figure "Back in 1980 I voted for Jimmy Carter" in your story is no different than "My first porn crush was Victoria Paris"

 

[Lifestyle66]

I wouldn't write in a preface or Author's Note at the beginning of the story that a particular person was the inspiration. That might come across as lazy, and you're suggesting the reader look up a photo to visualize your scene. I would recommend writing it into the story something like "When I saw her walking toward me, she reminded me of Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman' in the first scene without the blonde wig." Then go on to add more description of why she reminds you of that character, with some details of hair, eyes, stature, attitude, etc.

 

[Defluer]

Yeah, allude but don't say it right out. I think I've done the "If this was a movie she'd be played by ???" type of thing which is a fast way of giving a description but also allowing the reader to draw their own image from there, with whoever as the building blocks.

 

[Duleigh]

I usually have someone in mind when I invent a character, but I generally don't reveal who I had in mind. Once I found it necessary in the plot of the story to mention who the character was based on, so I blamed it on one of the characters in the story: "Her black hair, pointed chin, and hazel eyes made Tom think immediately of Demi Moore."

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I admit I would shy away from the naming thing. It's one thing to obliquely pay homage, or even a roman à clef scenario, but when it comes to sex and agency, best to steer clear. I'm all for doing awful things to Hitler or Stalin, don't get me wrong, but that's about laughs, not more clicks.

As always, you can draw parallels between a written character and a real person. I've had friends of Alex complain to him about Alexa being built like Dana Hamm, but she's not Dana Hamm.

I have a time travel story, and it's been extremely tempting to have my characters go back and have sex with famous porn stars and sex bombs, like Nina Hartley or Ann-Margret. I'd get a LOT of clicks for it. Frankly, tho, it's best left up to inference. Both those fine women are still alive. Nobody cares if I say that they had sex with Anne of Austria or Jane Digby.

It's one thing to infer who it might be, if they remain nameless or use a different name. But I wouldn't directly write in a living (or recently passed) porn star or celebrity. Active, retired, or taken from us, I think it's best to leave them unnamed, be it Riley Steel, Nina Hartley, or Marilyn Chambers. Let your prose do the lifting, if you must.

 

[KeithD]

I've done it on occasion when it seemed to fit, but not often. Never say never, though.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Thank you all for your input. I've decided that I'll be keeping my inspiration to myself. Appreciate the help in deciding.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

So, in the work I'm currently writing, I'm imagining a particular porn star as my main character. I describe her as much as I ever do, describing enough but not too much. I do a little opening paragraph for my stories, just to let the reader know what he/she is in for. I was thinking about including my porn star inspiration's, name, in this paragraph, NOT within the body of the work. So the reader can really visualize what I'm imagining of the character with a simple Google search.
I'm of two minds on the idea now and was wondering what others thought of the idea. Good? Tacky?
Please don't give me a "it's your story" answer, I would like opinions.

I currently have five stories in my "Before They Were Stars" series. Two of them involve women before they became porn stars, two of them involve women before they became famous actresses, and one involves a woman who became famous for her tele-journalism career.

I think it is obvious to readers, by the titles if nothing else, what inspired the stories. Here is a link to the first one so you can see how I handle it:
https://literotica.com/s/before-they-were-stars-scarlet-red

 

[Emilymcplugger]

So, in the work I'm currently writing, I'm imagining a particular porn star as my main character. I describe her as much as I ever do, describing enough but not too much. I do a little opening paragraph for my stories, just to let the reader know what he/she is in for. I was thinking about including my porn star inspiration's, name, in this paragraph, NOT within the body of the work. So the reader can really visualize what I'm imagining of the character with a simple Google search.
I'm of two minds on the idea now and was wondering what others thought of the idea. Good? Tacky?
Please don't give me a "it's your story" answer, I would like opinions.

I wouldn’t either, unless it’s like a specific look of a person.

For example, I might describe someone as having a black bob hairstyle, like Louise Brookes, to that’s about as big a push.

Like, but not exactly like, it’s enough to paint something of a picture, maybe.

 

[Bramblethorn]

One of the perils of leaning on a real-life person is that they don't stand still, and the name you invoke may carry quite different baggage by the time somebody else reads the story.

There are a couple of stories on this site from 2009 and 2014 that invoke Allison Mack, back when her fame was basically "cute actress". But anybody reading after 2018 is more likely to remember her as "that former actress who got into a sex trafficking cult and went to jail". Probably not what those authors had in mind.

There are also stories here about another RL actor who would've been "cute actress" at the time of publication. In the time since they were published he's come out as transgender, changed names, changed his look, had top surgery, and mentioned that he'd thought of himself as male since he was a child. Again, probably not bringing to the story what the authors aimed to bring.

 

[Seadog777]

I will describe how a person looks and then use an actress as a reference point, so that the reader can put a mental image in their mind as they read.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I will describe how a person looks and then use an actress as a reference point, so that the reader can put a mental image in their mind as they read.

That's a bit harder than it seems in the 3rd person. In any case, I've decided not to use the porn star reference in any fashion. Thanks.

 

[Seadog777]

That's a bit harder than it seems in the 3rd person. In any case, I've decided not to use the porn star reference in any fashion. Thanks.

OK.
Good luck on your story.

 

[stickygirl]

I have characters that have inspired me but I let them be my touchstone and a source of characterisation. I've never met them, so it can only be my interpretation - someone else will have a different vision. Use RL people for ideas, but keep it to yourself as others have suggested.

 

[jehoram]

I really don't see the harm in it, as long as you just give it a mention in passing. Here's an excerpt from a story I once wrote:

"Her black hair, fair skin, and dark eyes made her an arresting sight, and she was totally comfortable with her body ... all 130 pounds of it. If she'd lost a dozen pounds of that, she could have passed for Marina Sirtis, but she was happy with the extra weight, and it was really her voluptuous breasts, winning smile, and ready pussy that captivated me."

Of course, I got a comment that said "Who the hell is Marina Sirtis?" from somebody who wasn't into ST:TNG. That's the trouble with any reference to a specific person.

In Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, he said that James Bond had a distinct resemblance to Hoagy Carmichael. That was his short-hand way of describing the character. But now that we've had six or seven actors (depending on who you count), none who really came close to that image, it's clear that casting directors, like readerships, don't give the author's preference much weight.

 

[MrPixel]

In Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, he said that James Bond had a distinct resemblance to Hoagy Carmichael. That was his short-hand way of describing the character. But now that we've had six or seven actors (depending on who you count), none who really came close to that image, ...

Oh, I dunno. George Lazenby had the look.

I am wrestling with identifying inspirations for some of the characters and especially locations in my writings. I seem to be avoiding that so far, with the exception of allusion to a specific fast-food chain with a cult following that's real easy to decode. Oddly, that particular chapter is my highest-rated story, and it has very little sex in it. Hmm. For that matter, the inspiration for the entire series is a locale I have visited two or three times, albeit much enhanced.

 

[TadOverdon]

I'm inspired by imagery and behavior in videos sometimes. There are one or two porn performers who interest me in the sense of curiosity about their biographies and apparent thinking about what they do, and a few whose appearance and affect as performers have been the jumping-off point for story characters.

But characters take on motivations and narratives of their own early on in stories, and identifying the source performers would be misleading and distracting IMHO even if I could make up an in-story reason for doing it.

 

[Euphony]

Author's choice really.

In reader mode, I won't instantly discount it if it's used to keep flow intact in an overarching, well crafted character description. Too often it is just a shortcut to not do the other work.

In author mode, I look for alternatives whenever possible. I know I have prejudices to pop culture figures. Hell, I even have them to generic names (have a Sandy or Amanda burn you down to the ground and escapism with just those names can be a struggle.)

If it supported a trait of the MC tho, I'm far more receptive. If someone had a thing for a particular playmate or similar and it went on to shape their tastes/predilections it can be interesting. Deeper than "my favorite big boobed blonde was X" but maybe that coupled with her pose, a prominent prop, or something in her bio (she liked skiing so he took it up to meet girls like her and he fell in love with the sport beyond his original reason, etc.)

All comes down to how much of the work you are leaving the readers own characterization to do. I feel a consensus to be difficult to predict but I am also a bit peculiar myself and may be projecting.

 

[Rob_Royale]

But characters take on motivations and narratives of their own early on in stories, and identifying the source performers would be misleading and distracting IMHO even if I could make up an in-story reason for doing it.

Thank you for replying and I agree. I did not end up referencing the actors my characters were patterned after, and the story is posted.

 

[SamScribble]

Just an observation: some of you boys and girls really do worry this writing stories business to death. Have you never just considered writing the story that's in your mind and setting it free among the readers. Not having a go at you, Robroy. Not having a go at anyone. Just asking for a friend.