I agree that this is all good advice, but I also think there is more nuance that makes the McCarthy and Eggers stories instructive. Cormac McCarthy was specifically using the most painful experiences of this woman's life in his fiction. If he had borrowed more neutral parts of her life — what it's like to work with horses, or whatever — we can guess she probably would have felt differently. Identifiability is another consideration. Dave Eggers' brother was obviously identifiable. Cat Person probably never would have been identifiable to anyone, even to the person on whom it was based, if it had been set anywhere but her actual college campus. An unforced error!! People shouldn't feel afraid to draw from real life in certain ways (or they'll never write anything) but they should know how to identify these issues and avoid them.
So interesting. Did you see the hullabaloo about Xochitl Gonzalez’s ANITA DE MONTE LAUGHS LAST? It is only very lightly disguised story of real life artist Ana Mendieta and her murder in 1985 by her artist husband Carl Andre. Her family was not pleased about the book, but I thought it was a beautiful tribute to her. And a great story besides.
This is all good advice. But don't forget the "Cat Person" debacle!
i forgot all about that one! there's also a more recent one where an estranged best friend found out that her friend wrote about their breakup.
I agree that this is all good advice, but I also think there is more nuance that makes the McCarthy and Eggers stories instructive. Cormac McCarthy was specifically using the most painful experiences of this woman's life in his fiction. If he had borrowed more neutral parts of her life — what it's like to work with horses, or whatever — we can guess she probably would have felt differently. Identifiability is another consideration. Dave Eggers' brother was obviously identifiable. Cat Person probably never would have been identifiable to anyone, even to the person on whom it was based, if it had been set anywhere but her actual college campus. An unforced error!! People shouldn't feel afraid to draw from real life in certain ways (or they'll never write anything) but they should know how to identify these issues and avoid them.
So interesting. Did you see the hullabaloo about Xochitl Gonzalez’s ANITA DE MONTE LAUGHS LAST? It is only very lightly disguised story of real life artist Ana Mendieta and her murder in 1985 by her artist husband Carl Andre. Her family was not pleased about the book, but I thought it was a beautiful tribute to her. And a great story besides.
my understanding is that they are litigious... (which I don't quite understand because the people who write about her love her)