Non-fiction in fiction?

[Inspector_Spinda]

Do you think borrow events from real life into fiction is cheating? Like if someone were writing a war story, would you feel cheated if they copied the tactics of a historical battle? To what extent to you expect those types of things to be original?

[ar-ninetysix]

Tbh you do you, cut corners where you can lol no one's obligated to be 100% original all the time

[PotatoJuice]

If you mean "having a detailed battle scene that demonstrates real world military tactics" I feel like that would be appreciated

[cherrystark]

I don't think it's cheating at all. For example, time travel series - yes, Doctor Who takes a lot of fantastical liberties but if the heroes time travel into early 1940s Europe, WW2 is going on. In the show "Timeless", they met James Bond author and IRL spy, Ian Fleming. The circumstances were totally fictional but the events and a lot of the people were real. Even biopics take liberties with their source material.

I think it just depends on the stance and story you are taking when you incorporate real life into fiction, in terms of originality . The Lone Ranger character was inspired by a real US Marshall. Variations of Daniel Boone have appeared in countless stories. One historical/fantasy story i read didn't feature any "real" people, it just involved normal people in WW1 Belgium. I don't consider any of these stories as cheating.

[alexlcuri07]

If it's cheating I do it all the time

Honestly, I feel like borrowing and splicing real life with art is expected, natural, and a great tactic. There's a reason that sayings like "write what you know" and "life inspires art" hold so true. I would also prefer to have someone borrow from real life and first-hand or second-hand accounts than from someone else fictional works. Even in fiction, realistic details like that make the writing feel whole.

[Inspector_Spinda]

oh no i dont mean like writing historical fiction or anything like that. i mean pure fiction, but heavily inspired by historical events. my concern is that at some point anyone who's savvy about the subject matter will find a story too predictable if it's borrowing too heavily from irl events.

[Inspector_Spinda]

but what if it makes it too predictable because the thing it's based on is fairly well known

[PotatoJuice]

Well, if a lot of time is spent on a specific battle in a comic, and it's occurs the same as a real life battle but with different dressing, then maybe I wouldn't do that (though I feel like only history buffs would notice anyway).

But if its more just a thematic backdrop for the story that's more general then I don't see a problem

EDIT: when I mentions military tactics before it wasn't like "how this specific general chose to act in this specific situation in the past" but more "how a typical general might react to a situation that you've made for the story"

[cherrystark]

I still don't consider it cheating. I know most of my references are from TV but the same holds true for books/comics. People have literally rewritten historical figures to fit into the world of their story. Have you ever heard of the old 1970s procedural called "Dragnet"? Basically, the show's writers would buy IRL case stories from law enforcement officials. They'd tweak the story for confidentiality but every episode is true.

I wouldn't worry about some history buff overanalyzing your subject matter. It's fiction. If they want accuracy, they can read a textbook. I love reading/watching fiction from different historical eras. It gives you a better connection to the historical event.

[Inspector_Spinda]

Joe Friday is a boss

[skippyjoeskilling]

I don't think it's cheating at all. Actually, I think it's pretty cool. Maybe I'm biased because I'm a history buff, but I love reading retellings of things I already know about.

Ex: The show Twin Peaks would reference occult theory a lot, down to namedropping actual people involved. But I definitely didn't feel cheated when I realized it was based on something I already knew about, it was more like I was in on the secret. I actually wrote a whole essay about it for one of my classes.

Anyway, if it's not historical fiction, the outcome isn't going to be one to one with an event. So even if the reader can guess how the battle overall is gonna turn out, they'll probably still be invested in if the individual characters will live.

[NickRowler]

It's not really cheating. A lot of people take inspiration from real life. A lot of detective and crime dramas take inspiration from real life events. Shows like NCIS and Law & Order have episodes that parallel real events.

[nickolaidas]

It's a great way to give life to your fiction.

If you think credit is due, mention your inspiration in the end of your chapter.

[Van]

Hmm, I think it's fine tbh
Time Squad was a great cartoon and that borrowed tons of non-fiction stories, there's also Simsala Grimm which takes from famous fairy tales but often times put a unique spin or twist to it that changes the usual story

[darthmongoose]

Game of Thrones (or A Song of Ice and Fire if you're a book purist) is inspired heavily by a real British civil war called the War of the Roses (Martin has even said this explicitly). In it we see two houses, represented by white and red respectively called Stark and Lannister at war over an island kingdom with a wall that runs along the top, and the war ends with the houses being united by marriage. This is... definitely pretty similar to how the houses of York and Lancaster, whose symbols are a white rose and a red rose, were at war over England, an island kingdom with an ancient wall, Hadrian's Wall, guarding the border with Scotland. Hell, King's Landing is positioned almost exactly where London is if you compare the UK to Westeros! Plus the history of the country and how the Targaryans took over is clearly inspired by William the Conqueror's conquest of England.

So if JRRM can do it, so can you!

[borzoiteeth]

I'm so confused, how is it cheating? If someone said they felt like they had to designed completely original clothing because using fashion that already exists (like tshirts) is cheating- what would be your answer?

I guess another way to look at it is who is your audience? Because let me tell you any good nod to important historical events history fans LOVE. Anything that respects how battles actually work and function they will share in their threads and stroke and adore it.

There is also a classic writing approach that is still loved today called foreshadowing. People love guessing what will come next and most of the time they love it when they are right.

Being unpredictable is overrated and is honestly only openly welcomed in very few genres.

[alcchron]

That sounds pretty dope, honestly. Plus, real life battle tactics aren't always 100% original.

I would say that you probably shouldn't call your battle "The Battle of Hastings" and then use the same tactics of the Battle of Hastings. Or maybe a fictionalized Battle of Hastings would be cool. I mean, people do things like that all the time.