tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post7910963912874306334..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Joy to the world: Ali Bacon looks at the problems of merging fact and fiction Katherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-58621902626620764282016-01-22T22:35:45.923+00:002016-01-22T22:35:45.923+00:00I love history and research, and some of my work e...I love history and research, and some of my work especially my plays are about real people. Of course we have to imagine conversations, scenes, etc, but I'm totally against these faked 'biopics' which become facts in the minds of viewers not only of the film but people who read taglines and descriptions online - I don't think it's right to invent pivotal events that didn't happen or evil twins or anything else there is no evidence for. Basically the writers are exploiting the fact that dead people can't sue, and it's a kind of laziness as well - instead of inventing their own characters and story, they piggy back on someone else's and then sex it up as if it were fiction. There's no reason they can't sex it up all they want, say it's 'based on part of the true story of XYZ' and then give the characters fictional names.But then I feel we write about real people to show what they've done or suffered or been, and to give them a voice, often one denied them by history, culture, religion, class, race, gender, so to distort that with wild inventions seems wrong to me. But TV is full of it!Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-38368756700861917222016-01-22T15:43:59.789+00:002016-01-22T15:43:59.789+00:00Thanks Catherine, yes, I have to write this thing ...Thanks Catherine, yes, I have to write this thing eventually whatever it turns out to be. I think Jean is a great subject because she hasn't had much 'exposure'. Time to set that right!AliBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611113709872287863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33772478624034801902016-01-22T14:57:23.303+00:002016-01-22T14:57:23.303+00:00Thanks so much for the mention, Ali - but you flat...Thanks so much for the mention, Ali - but you flatter me, I think. I'm just having one of those 'what have I done?' spells - but it'll pass! This is such an interesting post about such a can of worms though. How much do we make up? How do we approach something like this? How do we make it sufficiently dramatic? How do we avoid giving offence to devotees? Should we even try? <br />Like Jan, I love history, love the research so much that I have to force myself to stop and write the damn book. I wrote The Jewel very much from the point of view of Jean - but took a decision early on that it had to be in the third person. All of which helped. I could stick to the facts as I unearthed them but give myself a certain distance and perspective. It also helped that she has been so neglected over the years - I went back to primary sources like parish records, and found out things that fed into the story - many of which didn't seem to have been covered before, but which seemed very dramatic to me. One interesting thing to emerge was the reason why - in my opinion anyway - so many projects about Burns himself haven't quite worked. They try to ignore what seems to have been the central relationship of his short life, in favour of the various love affairs he had on the side - all deeply romantic, but mostly short lived. And yet that central relationship is undoubtedly more dramatic than all the rest. But you're right. It's all difficult. And whether my version of Jean and Rab is anywhere near the truth remains to be seen! Good luck with your project. I think having done the research you should go for it and see where it takes you. Some projects just have to be written. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-64531785395888374262016-01-22T14:11:41.662+00:002016-01-22T14:11:41.662+00:00Ooh dont lionise me as well! What I mean is I'...Ooh dont lionise me as well! What I mean is I've written the first two of a series of novellas about Nelson, and one (probably so far) on Nap. I just lurve history...Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-42488138008590666582016-01-22T13:27:58.082+00:002016-01-22T13:27:58.082+00:00Great piece, Ali. Rupert Brooke used to be a great...Great piece, Ali. Rupert Brooke used to be a great poetic passion of mine. But I'm not surprised that the bio didn't hold up. His life was too short...and his personality too vague, I think. Her never fully developed. As for too many historical facts, any of the long Roman epics of Colleen McCullough prove the danger of too much research. Or rather the danger of using too much research. glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-9812932206365352692016-01-22T11:50:25.328+00:002016-01-22T11:50:25.328+00:00Hi Jan - I am in awe that you are taking on such b...Hi Jan - I am in awe that you are taking on such big names! Should be amazing when you crack it! Did I see your name in a Historical fiction bookfest thing going on? A.AliBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611113709872287863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-79419157760688822362016-01-22T10:49:41.666+00:002016-01-22T10:49:41.666+00:00Interesting Ali, and particularly so because yeste...Interesting Ali, and particularly so because yesterday, with my historical WIP's protagonist needing to check a religious reference, I discovered by accident the name of the actual minister of his local church at the time (1841). It saved me the trouble of making up yet another name (which always takes longer than it should), but also, in my mind at least, it brought a sense of authenticity to the fiction. I think I'd be scared to take on Jan's Nelson/Napoleon challenge, but an unknown, unimportant but REAL minister of a small church was just the job.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-77654222506794724462016-01-22T09:25:41.690+00:002016-01-22T09:25:41.690+00:00Great stuff, Ali. I've been working recently o...Great stuff, Ali. I've been working recently on Nelson and Napoleon. One lionised out of sight, the other demonised, by English writers at least. Finding a fictional line through them is wonderful fun, but it don't half give me a headache!Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.com