This probably has been brought up in another thread, but I assume people have read about the criticism King has received from the daughter of the BTK individual.
This got me irritated. Believe me, I have the utmost sympathy for this woman, for obvious reasons. But I think she should be more concerned about the victims than with King.
I hope she has never watched things like "Psycho" and "The Silence of the Lambs," as both those stories I believe had real-life inspirations.
As a wannabe, unpublished writer, I do admit I changed at one time something I used in a horror story at the last minute before sending it out, something that was based on a real event that had occurred, at the time, very recently. I can't recall the story fully without looking it up -- and my connection is not great right now, so I can't do so -- but if you remember, there was some mining accident somewhere where, at first, it was thought the majority of people survived, exciting all the family members, and then, it was revealed that was a mistake, the majority were lost and only one person survived. Horrible tragedy.
In my story, I had a teen witch-sort-of character use her powers to actually cause that change from one dying to one surviving, because in her mind all the cheering people were arrogant (obviously I don't really believe that, and it was just one part of the story). In the end, I thought it was too soon to incorporate the actual event (although I always wonder if someone did, and if someone got criticized for it), so I changed the situation from a mine to a disaster somewhere else, a mall I think. The story was rejected, but the editor I think said it came close, or he liked it, whatever. Never sent it out again.
Therefore, yes, I might have at times a problem with writing something directly based on something else (in the above, I literally used the event, at first), but if I did, or if/when King does, he shouldn't be criticized. I oftentimes try to look for events I can use in fiction, it makes things more interesting and marketable. And again, she should avoid the news, many movies, etc., that make money off tragedy. (Yet, I wonder if the studio offered her money to be a consultant, what she would think.)
Besides, as he said, it's not really about the actual event.
This got me irritated. Believe me, I have the utmost sympathy for this woman, for obvious reasons. But I think she should be more concerned about the victims than with King.
I hope she has never watched things like "Psycho" and "The Silence of the Lambs," as both those stories I believe had real-life inspirations.
As a wannabe, unpublished writer, I do admit I changed at one time something I used in a horror story at the last minute before sending it out, something that was based on a real event that had occurred, at the time, very recently. I can't recall the story fully without looking it up -- and my connection is not great right now, so I can't do so -- but if you remember, there was some mining accident somewhere where, at first, it was thought the majority of people survived, exciting all the family members, and then, it was revealed that was a mistake, the majority were lost and only one person survived. Horrible tragedy.
In my story, I had a teen witch-sort-of character use her powers to actually cause that change from one dying to one surviving, because in her mind all the cheering people were arrogant (obviously I don't really believe that, and it was just one part of the story). In the end, I thought it was too soon to incorporate the actual event (although I always wonder if someone did, and if someone got criticized for it), so I changed the situation from a mine to a disaster somewhere else, a mall I think. The story was rejected, but the editor I think said it came close, or he liked it, whatever. Never sent it out again.
Therefore, yes, I might have at times a problem with writing something directly based on something else (in the above, I literally used the event, at first), but if I did, or if/when King does, he shouldn't be criticized. I oftentimes try to look for events I can use in fiction, it makes things more interesting and marketable. And again, she should avoid the news, many movies, etc., that make money off tragedy. (Yet, I wonder if the studio offered her money to be a consultant, what she would think.)
Besides, as he said, it's not really about the actual event.