What are the guardrails for "based on a true story, inspired by events, taken from interviews, etc.?"

[Euphony]

Feels like I've come across this being a no-no somewhere in passing but I can't seem to find it.

Is it just forbidden in the author's preamble?

I feel like I've come across characters/narrators using similar. Is there a distinction between the header and the fiction itself?

 

[KeithD]

Not aware of it being a no-no. Just that there isn't any particular reason to believe it when you read it. It's probably most effective as an opener for period fiction.

 

[Euphony]

Not aware of it being a no-no. Just that there isn't any particular reason to believe it when you read it. It's probably most effective as an opener for period fiction.

Thanks. Not a device I plan to lean on but I (falsely?) remembered it being talked about a few years back.

There are a ton of stories where I've seen it lately so I wondered if it was a tightening up along with some of the other things.

The mechanics of this place fascinate me in the oddest ways sometimes.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If you say it's a true story readers probably either won't care or won't believe you. If you write a fictional story, readers are just as likely to consider it true, and thank you for sharing.

There's no logical answer - but you're the only knows the truth - so does it really matter? Declaring it true won't make it read any better, it doesn't magically give it more value - despite what some people seem to think.

 

[RejectReality]

There is a rule where stories that are said to be "true" aren't accepted.

https://literotica.com/resources/content-guidelines

• Works professed to be true about real people in the title, tags, and/or description. You can use “true” within the body of a story as part of your fictional storytelling. This policy is to protect authors as well as third parties.

So it appears that the body of the story is fair game.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Feels like I've come across this being a no-no somewhere in passing but I can't seem to find it.

Is it just forbidden in the author's preamble?

I feel like I've come across characters/narrators using similar. Is there a distinction between the header and the fiction itself?

It may not be "no-no", but it's an a gray area. Naming real persons, or giving enough detail that a real person could be identifiable, is not acceptable. Stating that a story is true could possibly lead to persons mentioned in the story claiming defamation or invasion of their privacy.

I ran into this when I wrote My Fall and Rise. I wrote it in the first person, used my name for the MC, but was advised by Laurel that I could not state that it was a true story.

 

[Britva415]

I wasn't aware of this rule when I wrote [TRUE] The Peeps I Have Peeped.

It got approved and the mods just removed [TRUE] from the title for me.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think is you say "based on" and not flat out "A true story" its not an issue. Based on implies you're changing names and locations and not putting a real person into the story.

For me, whenever I see someone saying true story I just think, yeah, sure it is. Not sure why, I've had some experiences that would make a great story so I'm sure many others have, but maybe its just because the site is full of so many smoke blowers on the forums and in the comments.

 

[Defluer]

For me, whenever I see someone saying true story I just think, yeah, sure it is. Not sure why, I've had some experiences that would make a great story so I'm sure many others have, but maybe its just because the site is full of so many smoke blowers on the forums and in the comments.

I don't think I ever believe it's real, whether stated or not. I imagine that stuff like it maybe could happen but otherwise, it's just as sexy fake as it is real.

Declaring it true won't make it read any better, it doesn't magically give it more value - despite what some people seem to think.

I've had a couple of stories that I've begun where I think it makes the idea more fun if it starts that way, to begin it like it's the character telling somebody else that all the events happened. One that I keep playing with (and failing at) is a "Dear John" letter that is also super explicit in what the person writing the letter did, to either get revenge or to make sure the "John" of the story knows that it's over. I go back and forth on that one as to whether the Letter Writer wants the relationship to be over with, or thinks that their raunchy story of debauchery will somehow get the forgiven. I think that would be fun in that the reader knows it'll never happen. The other is a way to set the ground work for the MC to actually speak to the reader, which I've sort of done here and there in tales, but I would really really dial up in that one.

In the end I would still expect that me/the character saying it was "true" would be an obvious ploy.