Making a Story More Exciting

[reverie35]

I am working on a story that has four famous people as major characters. Since I don't think it likely that I will get their permission I was thinking of changing the names. Then I had the following idea.

I will change the names to XXXXX, YYYYY, ZZZZZ, and 55555 or some such. At the start of the story will be instructions to use the global search and replace function of your word processor to provide names that most appeal to the reader.

There would be profiles to help you select a name that goes with the role. (Young blond female music star).

That way everybody can read it with a famous person in the role and I can dodge liability issues.

Clearly this wont work unless you choose the text download?

Comments please.

[GaryWilcox]

You can also be clever about it by simply suggesting but never confirming who it is. There is a famous character caught in Punk Rock Girl, but she is only referred to as 'The Prize'.

[BDSM_Tourguide]

There is at least one story in the BDSM Library, that I know of, involing named celebrities. The name of the story is "Raping Avril Lavigne and Amanda Bynes" but I do not know the author's name. Search for it using the advanced search option on the story page.

[reverie35]

One of the reasons I am writing is to try, in a very small way, to bring myself and BDSM out of the closet. It is my opinon that if you want respect and understanding you must give the same respect to all others.

[Harold]

Originally posted by reverie35
I am working on a story that has four famous people as major characters.

I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but I find both fanfic and celebrity based stories to be a major turnoff. Celebrity based stuff smacks of super market tabloids, while fanfic seems downright parasitic (parodies excepted). I prefer stories where the author creates his own characters. Just my opinion.

Would your story work at all with randomly named characters (Bob, Carol, Ted, and Alice, etc.)?

[AndrewBlack]

While I agree with your comment about super-market tabloids I disagree that involving famous people or 'celebrities' is a bad thing. The media obsesses about these people often to the exclusion of/distraction from real news. They are presented in a way that suggests that what they do is important and that we should care. Young people emulate celebrities. All of that pisses me off as these people often have little useful to add as society role-models. Anything that involves celebrity debasement is a good thing in my book and I say lets have more and harder involvement. Perhaps someone could write a good skeleton story and then offer up the starring roles in a 'casting' thread.

[AndrewBlack]

oops! being a congenital internet fuckwit I've accidently started a new thread in response to this one ( Shock horror! ). I'll just nip out and shoot meself.

[reverie35]

I think I agree that using a celebrity character and the whole cult of celebrity are easy rip off for any author. My use of the characters has a different logic. Help me understand if its good or bad logic.

People who are into D&S make up a percentage of the population, therefore a percentage of celebrities are also into D&S. I treat them just like many in this forum - hiding in the closet and afraid to have their real selves known. Image the publicity and reaction if the Paris Hilton video had been D&S?

Another question - How do you know that someone on this forum is not a Celebrity?

So I am using celebrity characters to show the rewards of finding and sharing with people of similar interests as they are drawn from their protective closets. I also exploit the fact they can afford expensive D&S toys and clothing.

To answer directly – no the story will not work as well with generic names.

[GaryWilcox]

You can invent a character.

I have been tempted to work with a sort of half Willa Ford, half Jessica Simpson character... someone young, richer than she's ever been, who has to be taken care of by handlers or she'll be broke and without a career.

Girls HATE Willa Ford with furious passion, and I find that really interesting. (When you have a fledgling music career and only a bad pop song to your credit, do NOT name drop sleeping with a Backstreet Boy.)

Jessica Simpson seems to be dumb, but she's one of the shrewdest, slyest cats I've ever seen, so that's kind of inspiring, too...

NICK: "Can I get a Hummer?"
JESSICA: (confused look) "You mean the car...?"
NICK: (embarrased) "Uh, sure."

[Harold]

Originally posted by GaryWilcox
I have been tempted to work with a sort of half Willa Ford, half Jessica Simpson character

I don't actually know who either of these people are, so you could use them directly and I wouldn't know it was a celebrity story. How about Marge Simpson and Gerald Ford instead?

Reverie35,
As far as your story goes, Tourguide makes a good point (althought I don't know who those women are, either). Can't you just use the names directly? I thought that part of the price of being a celebrity was that you're fair game for parody, etc. Is it fair to ask what celebrities you had in mind?

[GaryWilcox]

Try a simple internet search, Harold. You'll find everything you need right there.

[Fox]

At the risk of being accused of being “sanctimonius”, I am going to wade into this thread with guns blazing.

First, no matter what the statistics may say, it is not the right of anyone in this forum to “out” someone. Sure, statistically any number of celebrities may participate in D/s …Yes, there may be celebrities, major or minor, who peruse these pages. So what.

Unless the individual is using his/her real name, they have as much right to privacy as you. That’s why all of us here use nicknames and hotmail/yahoo addresses.

Don't play with statistics to support what you're thinking - there be dragons. Here's an example:

Statistically and historically, pedophilia is highly prevalent in society. Imagine if someone “outs” YOU in a public forum as a pedophile. What is the impact of this action on you, your family and friends, knowing it doesn’t matter whether or not it’s true.

In essence, put yourself in the shoes of the people you wish to write about.

Second, some of these people have very large networks of media monitoring. Disney for example, is well known for their aggressive pursuit of anyone and everyone who misuses their trademarked characters (“You don’t ever mess with the mouse”). You want to write a fictional story about Britney Spears, or Angelina Jolie or Michael Jordan or Bugs Bunny, go ahead. Know that you do so at your own risk,

Third, the notion of using "55555" or some other form of "masking" your intentions is, I think, somewhat lame. Either use the person's name or don't use it.

Finally, don’t be like the TV dramas that use the puny disclaimer “not based on a real incident” that is actually based on easily identified incidents – be creative, be imaginative, let your skill and talent and mind do the work.

Should you use celebrity names in your story? That is going to be up to you. I am merely pointing out the dangerous waters in which you may be wading.

That’s it from me. Good luck.

[Harold]

Fox makes a good point and I agree with him. Further, I would point out that this is probably not the right venue for a crusade for the acceptance of BDSM. You're preaching to the choir.



Originally posted by GaryWilcox
Try a simple internet search, Harold. You'll find everything you need right there.

No, you don't understand. I said I didn't know who they were. I didn't say I wanted to know. How would I then flout my ignorance of pop culture?

[reverie35]

I am replying to Fox’s comments and won't copy them here.

No I do not want to ‘out’ anyone that is why I know that I must change the names. The device of 55555 is made possible by a function of word processors and would let the reader fill in any name they liked - singer, actor, high school sweetheart or wife.

None of the story is based on anything real except my own experience with a professional dominant.

I know that I am preaching to the converted here, but it is here in this wonderful spot, the BDSMlibrary site that I am finding the tools to make it better and perhaps good enough for publication.

That last perhaps is just another fantasy.

[Xue Lan]

None of the story is based on anything real except my own experience with a professional dominant.

So tell that story. That be much more interesting to me, anyway.
:)

[BDSM_Tourguide]

Write what you want to write.

[Neopadinski]

In Hawke's "Relentless" stories, he simply did not specify the name of the female, nor was the identity of the kidnapper made specific. Instead, he just made it a "you tickle her, she laughs" kind of layout. With the second one, the same event was portrayed through the eyes of the female ("he tickled me, I laughed"). Or was it the other way around? I don't know. My point is, perhaps you might want to search "Relentless" and/or "Relentless 2" if you want to see what I am talking about.

[e.e. norcod]

Right here on BDSM Library there is a brilliant satire of big corporate product launches "HP +" by "HarryBerg". See how humor (albeit of a very dark sort) can be used to puncture overinflated public figures. Then go for the jugular (or the pussy or the anus) in your own writing. As long as the piece is clearly fictional and satirical you have reasonable protection. Besides I love satire!

[Harold]

I just received an email from a reader that I thought was relavant to this discussion. It's not the first time I've received this sort of comment. He had read some of my stories on another site (one not specifically bdsm oriented). What he said was:

"Actually, I read all of them over the last day, and enjoyed them all. It's the first time I've been able to really understand the attraction to B&D..."

The point is, you don't need celebrities. What you need is a story that will get the reader into the heads of the characters so that he will understand. If you feel your story won't work without celebrity characters, then you've got a weak story and you probably need to put some more work into it.

Also, I think the search and replace gimmick is likely to be more than most readers are willing to put up with. When confronted with that, they're likely to pass it up and read something more accessible.

[boccaccio2000g]

Originally posted by Harold
[B]I don't actually know who either of these people are,




Can't you just use the names directly? I thought that part of the price of being a celebrity was that you're fair game for parody, etc. /B]

I think that "legally" it may be fair game to use a celebrity as an object of 'satire' -- using the term very loosely to describe using their personas in a sexual context.

But I think that it's in execrable taste. Celebrities have parents and spouses and lovers and children just like you do.

IMO, it's a cheap substitute for using one's imagination -- and what's worse it prevents the reader from using his/her imagination. If, for some inexplicable reason, the author really wants or needs to exploit the looks or personality of a specific individual, say a female tennis star, he or she can resort to a device such as using names like 'Lana Kournishevsy' or ''Athena and Sabrina Wilson' which allows everyone to make the desired associations, without overly invading the celebrity's privacy.

But it's still a bit silly, isn't it? We can already fantasize about celebrities if we're so inclined. My advice to authors would be to give us fantasies about people we don't know, that, at the moment, exist only in your own mind.

Happy New Year, everyone

Boccaccio

[e.e. norcod]

One of these days I want to write a story where Ozzie and Harriet have a BDSM encounter with the Flying Nun. However until then I will have to settle for Martha Stewart and Mary Kay torturing rabbits.

[AndrewBlack]

I don't necessarily think that involving a celebrity is a cop-out. I think the writer undertakes certain constraints when they use a real person that must be observed if the story is to work i.e. the character must behave as they would in real life or it's just daft.