World, Writing, Wealth discussion
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'Based on real events'
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My attitude to "based on true events" is that it should basically be all true, but with names and locations maybe changed to protect the innocent. The classic example of altering the "facts" for marketing purposes was the movie involving the acquiring of the enigma code from a German submarine. The acquirer was British, not American, and at the time America was not even a combatant. That was done for marketing, so yes it must have marketing value.
It could have marketing value for readers looking for something in that vein. To use the term, I think the historical background for the events is needed and should be pretty accurate. For example, Stephen King's 11/23/63 is really alternate history / time travel. His marketing machine is built-in but the event itself is reality re-imagined.
even in Sci-Fi - real events and research have to appear for me to believe the world.Just watched Whiskey Tang Foxtrot (based on real events) about a female reporter in Afghanistan. In the movie she is a TV journalist when in reality she was a print journalist - Didn't spoil the movie for me but don't understand why it needed to change.
Literature is supposed to transcend reality. It doesn't need to say 'based' on anything. It is understood that this is what literature does.
I think it has marketing value, people are more likely to want to see something that supposedly actually happened. I don't have too much of a problem with it myself as long as the basic spirit of people and what they did is still in the story. If that's taken out, then it's pointless.
Everything is based on one thing or another. Knowing that something is based on actual events has a way of making it seem more authentic, I guess.
Does it add to marketability, in your opinion?
Well... as it turns out, my books are based on reality. The world really is run by a group of parasitic predators whose rule is masked by comprehensive deception...I could tell you a lot more ... but, what's that!
A black helicopter overhead?!....
(Thump... bang, crash.... uuuuurrrghhhh.....
Can only hope that Graeme comes out unscathed from this 'trump ... bang' thing -:)
What, Nik, trump instead of thump? What message is implied here? Should we be worried?
I guess that Graeme neglected to wear his protective tin foil hat.
Oh, good, Graeme. You've lived to write another day :) Sounds like the 'copter pilots mightn't be so lucky.
Yes Scout, they're condemned to die in my next novel - bravely no doubt, just unlucky to be on the wrong side.
There most definitely is. Take a game of test cricket (a bit of a mystery to Americans). There is usually some sort of advantage in winning the toss of a coin (which gives the option of who bats first) and that has to be luck.
Scout wrote: "So there's such a thing as luck?"Now there's a deep question?
Graeme wrote: "Scout wrote: "So there's such a thing as luck?"
Now there's a deep question?"
Yeah! That means that there is also such thing as bad luck!
Now there's a deep question?"
Yeah! That means that there is also such thing as bad luck!
Glass half empty kind of guy you are :-)
Let's say that I traveled a lot around the World and that what I saw was often not very pretty.
I get it. I've stopped watching much news, just the bare necessities. Nothing I can do about many things I see. "Real events" seems to focus on bad events, but there are good real events happening, too.
Good events can't make breaking news and as such are not 'interesting' in the eyes of the media. For some reason they want us absorbed in immediacy, threat and melodrama -:)
Hi Nik. One word - Ratings.Media have a single business model whereby they have to attract and hold people's attention long enough to make their advertising space valuable to sell and/or solicit the purchase of subscriptions.
They have no other way to exist hence their consistent and predictable behaviour.
Graeme wrote: "Hi Nik. One word - Ratings.Media have a single business model whereby they have to attract and hold people's attention long enough to make their advertising space valuable to sell and/or solicit ..."
Yeah, that's probably true. Although since I'm paying quite dearly for a bundle of TV channels each month, those commercials are just worse than spam -:)
As Graeme noted, with the odd exception where the channel is backed for some other purpose, such as religious or propaganda purposes, the objective is to make money, and advertising is unfortunately the easiest way to do that, even adding onto subscription channels. The news chosen is what will attract the most advertisers, and that is what they think the public want to see. Rightly or wrongly, they think it is the bad news, and I suspect they are right. The trouble with good news is it tends to create yawns. Like there were no road accidents today. That would almost qualify as a miracle in most places, but while it might work once, it would soon get boring.
Think about any of us writing a novel.Protag walked into his living room. The bright morning sunlight was streaming through the open windows. He said, "What a wonderful morning just like every day of my life."
Protag's bestest best friend Antag said, "There was a pleasant and delightful rain shower last night. It started precisely at 2am and lasted for 1 hour. Just like every night. Our garden is blooming and bustling with life."
"I think I'll walk the dog." Protag suggested, giving his delightful and friendly hound a gentle pat.
"I'd love to be able to stop you." Antag said. "But in GoodNewsWorld, I couldn't possibly make that happen."
Antag grinned with helpless insipidity.
Protag waltzed out the front door with his faithful hound at his side.
It was another marvelous day in GoodNewsWorld where nothing bad ever happens.
Hi Graeme,Great writing! But I have some bad news (BadNewsWorld had to strike back.) 250 pages of that is not going to get five stars or be a best seller :-)
Indeed. I was struggling to find a hook...
Maybe the only place where good news is bad news is on Facebook. I'm not a normal partaker (13 friends, all close friends and family), but a friend recently told me that she's shutting down her current page and making a new one so that she can get rid of certain friends who post these marvelous vacations and wonderful family times. She says all this good news makes her depressed about her own life.
Graeme wrote: "Indeed. I was struggling to find a hook..."Ah, you're looking at it wrong...throw in a little humor and you have a hit!
To a degree the wildest fantasy may still have some connection to reality..
How much 'basis' of real events does one need to tag it 'based... '? Does it have any marketing value, in your opinion?