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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
| The “True Story” Story This was a suggestion from Schnujo's Giving Away GPs, and so I am going to tackle it here: writing “true” stories. Why did I put “true” in quotation marks? Well, because there are different definitions of the true story when you are a writer. In fact, there are three versions of this. Let’s look at them. 1. The Actual True Story This is the non-fiction version of writing. It can be creative non-fiction or a straight-forward telling of the story, but this is where you do your research, gather all your facts and present them in whatever way you can. It is accepted that the writer does not make anything up when they do this – everything they have is taken from viable sources. These tend to need at least a bibliography, and if the writer does want to put in their own theories (as in Patricia Cornwall’s book about Jack the Ripper, Portrait Of A Killer), they are clearly marked as such, but are based on evidence or have a solid grounding. These books will be found in the non-fiction section of a library or bookstore. And while I know that doesn’t mean much (I’ve seen more truth in Star Wars than any Hulk Hogan autobiography, for example), it does make it a work that should be based solely on facts and suppositions that can be derived from those facts. In movies, these can be stretching the truth if they are not documentaries (even if they are). For example, the recent film The Iron Claw about the Von Erich family actually sanitised what was, in fact, a much more tragic and depressing story. Still, what was presented was pretty close to the truth. Tough call. Maybe it should also be considered… 2. Based On The Story Of This skirts the line between fiction and non-fiction, and is where most films fall. This can be because the original story was too boring, and so added bits were included to spice things up, characters are combinations of multiple people, things are changed because of convenience, or whatever. One of the best examples is Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally (filmed as Schindler’s List). Now, one of the things about the “based on” books is that the names of real people are used, and so defamation and libel laws can apply. The court results have been rather mixed. Events can be changed and characters can be modified, but a writer will need to indicate that they have a reason to do that (except in the case of parody) through the story being told. However, some stories that are claimed to be based on a true story are actually closer to… 3. Inspired By The Story Of This is when the ideas and facts of a story are changed and mutated, new characters are used, names can be changed (though some real names might be used… however, this is rare), but the story beats and events and character motivations have some basis in a real story. There is much more freedom here and there is no doubt at all that this is a fictional tale. Even the ending could be changed. Using real people, a classic example is Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, the Tarantino film where the Manson gang are stopped and Sharon Tate is saved. Inspired by the Tate-Lo Bianco murders, but changed. Another example might be Buffalo Bill from The Silence Of The Lambs, inspired by Ed Gein., Based on, sure, but there are so many changes, that inspired by is closer to the mark. As a writer, this is the style that gives the most latitude and is probably the most fun to have. 3b. Suggested By The Story Of This is an extension of the last one, moving even further away from the original true story, and would include Psycho which is suggested by the story of Ed Gein, but is so different that you’d have to know the Gein story quite well to pick it up. Addendum Now, I’m going to include this because it is rather confusing. In some cases, an autobiography is full of crap. I mentioned Hulk Hogan earlier (who claimed he wrestled 400 days a year one year and that Andre the Giant weighed 800lbs when he slammed him), but no-one has yet decided to turn one of them into a film. What I am going to look at is The Secret Man by Frank Dux (1996), described rather amusingly by YTer Napoleon Blownapart as “Frank Dux fan-fiction by Frank Dux”. Not one of the stories he claims in this 300 page work can be verified. At all. And they then made Bloodsport, a Jean Claude Van Damme film, based on the book. Based on one part of the book. Based on one of the more fanciful parts of the book. They made changes there as well to the book. Where does that stand in the “based on” continuum? Sure, based on a book. But a non-fiction book? The lines are so blurred as to be smudges of grey. And those are the levels of “True Story” writing. Hope that helps someone! |
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