Comments on: Is your writing Toxic?

By: Robin Ashe

Robin Ashe — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 07:16:47 +0000

My ex-husband treated me so badly that I started to imagine how I would treat women if I was a man. Thus was born my favorite and most complicated character. My ex hated my subject matter (vampires, but only after I started writing about them) and the fact that I might get published and leave him. He hated that I wrote while he played video games instead of watching him play video games. He couldn’t understand that if I got published, I wanted to supplement the family income. We got divorced. I’m not sorry. Writing about good and bad relationships woke me up and made me realize that my ex and I had grown apart drastically. This is not my real name, by the way, it’s my pen name.

By: Donna Falcone

Donna Falcone — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:24:39 +0000

Wow. I never imagined that could happen, but of course it makes perfect sense. I’m so glad that you shared this experience. Such power in the pen, but it doesn’t come from the pen.

By: Featuring Women Writers on WWWB 2013 - Women Writers, Women Books

Featuring Women Writers on WWWB 2013 - Women Writers, Women Books — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 23:14:53 +0000

[…] never heard of her. – CJ Underwood Science in Fictio – Sanjida O’Connell Is your writing Toxic? – Colleen McCarty Multiculturalism and Writing – Berit Ellingsen A Day in the Life of a […]

By: My Week In Links (December, Week 2) | The 2am Letters

My Week In Links (December, Week 2) | The 2am Letters — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 03:31:35 +0000

[…] Is Your Writing Toxic? What Happens When Your Life Sneaks Into Your Novel (or vice versa) “Some of us write to get the darkness out of us, while others write to keep the darkness in.” Lots to think about in here… […]

By: SomerEmpress

SomerEmpress — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 19:52:55 +0000

I love this! So true, so true. Always steeped in some reality, but evolves somehow. There is a definitive tension with those around me when I spend time with my characters. I sometimes get their moxie and find myself saying stuff that I wouldn’t otherwise say, or empathizing so greatly with them, that I don’t unleash what I really want to say. This business of novel writing can be intense; it is far more difficult to maintain the integrity of the two worlds – the one you’re writing and the one you’re living – while writing. You wrote rather aptly about this.

Thank you!

By: Shelia Bolt Rudesill

Shelia Bolt Rudesill — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 21:55:01 +0000

Colleen,

I too enjoyed your post. All of my stories at least start with a real life situation that I have observed, usually from afar. My best stories grow from situations that I’ve only heard the begining of like how a couple met or how strange a friend’s friend acted. It’s like that game we so often see in movies–people look at strangers and make up stories about them.

You are so right about centering a story or scene on family members. I did that once and oh, my! None of them ever got that my fictional account wasn’t a true (horrible) story about them. Ouch!

By: Marialena

Marialena — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 16:49:13 +0000

Great post, Colleen! And congrats on your book launch. It’s today, right? Brava!

I never thought that my first novel was based on my family. Well… one of my brothers is a named minor character, but other than that… 🙂 However, some of my readers tell me that my female protagonist is me, which surprises me because I think we share very little. And the people (other than the character who has my brother’s actual name) who inspired other characters never see themselves.

All that to say that I suspect that it isn’t always obvious to the writer when a character or story reflects a reality that others recognize.

But I suspect it’s hard to escape life from intruding into the story and vice versa. 🙂

By: Lori Schafer

Lori Schafer — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 15:48:18 +0000

Interesting and very provocative post, Colleen. I, too, had a similar experience with intentionally writing a novel fictionalizing people I know. It was only when I let go of the “reality” that the characters began to come to life; they ended up being more “inspired by” than “based on.” Still, I worry that when those people read my book, it’ll get me in trouble. “Is this how you really see me?” “Why did you have me do that?” and so on.

On the other hand, I have not had the reverse experience you describe – or at least, I’m not aware of having done so. But now I wonder – is the fiction creeping into my reality in surreptitious ways? Do I change my behavior towards actual people because of the characters I’ve created that resemble them? That’s something I’ll have to watch for – or maybe write a story about. 😉

By: Colleen McCarty

Colleen McCarty — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 13:59:33 +0000

Thank you so much for your comments, ladies! I loved writing this piece. People talk a lot about writing about your family/friends and upsetting people, but don’t talk about the other side of things!

I hope you’ll consider buying the book, it’s live today at http://amzn.com/0615876013!

By: Fran

Fran — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 09:35:37 +0000

Hi Colleen, great post. I read somewhere that all first novels are in some way biographical. I always poo-poed the idea. It can’t be true of everyone. But I have to say a lot of ‘family’ did creep into mine. The final result is not a photo fit of my family, not by a long shot, but they did influence certain characters and scenes. So did other aspects of my life. Luckily I can’t be sued (haha) because like you mine is a work of fiction. There’s also a good chance that, no-one in your family will read it – I hear that happens a lot! Good luck with the book.