The Dangers Of Turning Fact Into Fiction

I love fiction. And I love fiction that's based on fact. But mixing the two can get you into trouble if you're not careful.

For anybody living in London in August 2011, the riots were inescapable. You didn't have to be caught up in the middle of the fighting to be affected. There was a mood, a tension that lingered in the air. Shops were closing at 3 p.m. People were eyeing each other suspiciously. Even a particular item of clothing suddenly acquired a demonic trait. As I put it in my novella, 'Riot Murder':

“The hoodie was transformed from a benign piece of leisurewear into a uniform for the disaffected, the angry, the malevolent. So much so that ‘hoodie’ was no longer a piece of clothing. It was a whole person. A hoodie was somebody likely to steal, plunder and do you unimaginable harm.
People were crossing the street when a hoodie crossed their path - even if it was a 70-year-old gentleman walking his dog. That’s how quickly the fear had permeated the collective consciousness. And lifting the hood was tantamount to cocking a gun.”

The climax of 'Riot Murder' depends on a particular detail of the 2011 riots. It was something so extraordinary that I felt compelled to use it. I can't say what it is because it forms the main twist of the novella. But I can talk about the issues it raises. It concerns a real person.

Now obviously there are legal ramfications to using real people in a novel. Characters can't be lifted directly from real life. Real people can sue.

But here lies the rub. All writers draw inspiration from real life. Even those specialising in the fantasy, or science fiction, realm. And what people do in real life make the very best stories in themselves; even though they are often incomplete and not utterly satisfying.

For a while, I thought about devising another storyline. But I kept returning to this man and what he did. When his court case came up, I decided I had to use the storyline I'd devised. It was a story screaming out to be told. Now let's get one thing clear. I did not know the man, had never met him, or read his life story. It was just one detail I wanted to use, which is perfectly fair game. Every other facet of my fictional character was made up.

But we live in litigious times. People trip on a paving stone and their first thought is who can they sue.

What I did, finally, was set the story forward in time. 'Riot Murder' takes place in the summer of 2012. The London riots have reignited, as many Londoners think they will, and an undercover cop is murdered. Setting it in the near future liberated the story in many ways. I didn't have to feel guilty about taking liberties with what actually happened this summer. So it worked out for my story.

I think the moral of this story is that no writer should be put off being inspired by real life. The real world is the lifeblood of fiction. Stories are important to the progression of society, no matter how trivial. Even a little detective novel can make people think twice. It's why stories were invented by our cave dwelling ancestors.

I want to say: to hell with opportunistic people's greedy need for the fame and potential financial reward of a court case. Stories must be told. But, of course, as a writer, you have to take this into account; you need to be careful. Make sure your character is genuinely different from its real life inspiration. And always include a disclaimer before your story.

There's always a workaround. And that workaround might just open a whole new world of possibilities.

'Riot Murder' – a Myles Morgan mystery by Mark Capell is available from Amazon and Amazon U.K. and will shortly be available from Barnes & Noble and the iBookstore.

Hypnotism And The Art Of Writing Good Sales Copy

It's not what you think. The art of writing good sales copy is not about brainwashing people. That's to misunderstand hypnotism. As a hypnotist once told me: you can't make people do what they don't want to do, you can only put them in a relaxed state where they're more suggestible. And that is similar to what you do when writing good sales copy.

And writing good sales copy is tough.

There is so much poor sales copy on the internet it makes you want to cry. It's as if the writers believe that if you hit somebody over the head with a hammer often enough they will eventually capitulate. They could learn a thing or two from hypnotists.

When meeting somebody, a hypnotist mirrors a subject's actions. He might even make a conscious effort to use the same vocabulary. This is a short cut to gaining your trust. It's a subconscious reaction and stronger because of it. A good hypnotist will speak at the same rate as the subject at first. Then, gradually, slow down, taking you into a more relaxed state.

Hypnotists are very careful to control the tone of their voice. They need to be soft enough to seem friendly and warm, like a mug of hot chocolate, but precise enough to be clear.

Once you are relaxed the hypnotist will blink his eyes ever more slowly. By that stage, you are so relaxed and suggestible that you follow. Until you find that it's too much effort to open them again.

Then he will concoct a story, taking you on a beautiful journey, using only words and the tone of his voice, to a beautiful place. And who doesn't want to go to a beautiful place? When you're relaxed and comfortable in that beautiful place he will make suggestions that he hopes you will take into your waking state.

And that, in a nutshell, is the art of writing good sales copy.

Cliches - How To Love Them

I had a great creative writing tutor when I was at college, which is a while ago now. He told us: 'Cliches are cliches because they work'. By that he meant that if a phrase only becomes a cliche because people decide that it works. Then he went on to tell us to avoid them at all costs.

So, in a way, that's contradictory advice.

Cliches can be good. With a cliche you know what you're getting. You have this phrase that, for years, people have used. Which is good. It means that they identify with it. It's familiar to them, like a pair of old slippers. They know exactly what it means, which removes any chance of misunderstanding. And misunderstanding is the enemy of good communications.

So what's the problem?

Cliches make the mind fog over. If used one after another, the reader or listener shuts off. We tell ourselves that this person has nothing new to say. The human mind is a wonderful device. Its curiosity has propelled us forward with great scientific advances. It likes nothing better than to make discoveries. If curiosity killed the cat it also drew the human race out of its caves and into the light.

From the point of view of the writer, cliches can be a product of the lazy side of the mind. When reaching for a phrase, often the first thing we think of is a cliche. And that's okay. We might beat ourselves up about it but it's natural. The mind wants to get a lot done as fast as possible. It's only when we settle for that initial phrase, rather than exploring other possibilities, that we should hit ourselves over the head with a blunt instrument.

But where does that leave us? Cliches are good and bad. Which is it? Do we use them or not?

Yes, we use them. Frankly, it would be hard not to. And sometimes they are a useful shortcut. But they should be used judiciously and sparingly. At the end of the day, when all's said and done, in a nutshell, come rain or shine, for better or worse, there's so many of them it would be hard to avoid them.

So you might as well love them.