(In this article, I use The Beauty of a Spiral, my contemporary YA novel, as an example.)
During a time when my daughters and I figure-skated, I watched a movie with a figure-skating theme and was annoyed by a scene depicting a skater taking a test. It was nothing like any skating test my daughters or I had ever taken! So unrealistic, I thought. Now that I’ve written a book involving the sport, I understand why the movie’s creators might have put their own “spin” (pun intended) on figure skating: to keep the story fictitious.
Alert Readers
The copyright pages of realistic fiction often contain disclaimers. These remind readers the story and characters aren’t real, and any similarity to a real person, place, or thing, etc. is a coincidence; the author’s work does not intend to represent any actual person or thing. I’m not a lawyer, but I imagine this reminder, along with story events and terms that aren’t realistic, helps prevent lawsuits from readers who identify with aspects of the story.
Consider real life (and its implications), then get creative.
figure skating
US Figure Skating uses specific terminology for skating tests, sessions, and programs, terms you can find on their website. Having been a former member and adult figure skater, and mother of two former members and figure skaters, I could have easily used accurate terminology in my book. This would have made the story even more realistic than it is and probably would have satisfied real figure skaters. However, for a few reasons, I decided to change some words:
- Legally, I thought it was safer to not use terms specific to a known organization.
- I’d heard from a figure-skating insider that a commonly used term might soon change. Therefore, I figured generic, descriptive names were a better choice. At least they’d remain consistent within the confines of my book’s fictitious world.
- Generic names, I thought, might also better serve the reader, as the terms’ meanings are straightforward.
medical
Just as I changed certain skating terms to avoid identifying or giving the appearance of representing a real entity, I changed the names of hospitals. Doing so, I hoped, might:
- keep a wall between real and unreal
- give me a sense of privacy
- cut the chances of anyone perceiving I invaded theirs
What I Kept Real
figure skating
I included universally used skating terms in the story, such as those for skating moves: Axel, Biellman spin, Lutz, double loop, etc. Hosts of televised competitions often use such words to describe elements of a skater’s performance.
medicAL
Main character Madz suffers from a condition whose real-life remedy is subject to change as new drugs are developed or research proves the need for a safer treat treatment protocol. (I’ve learned this by researching medical reports and speaking to experts in the field, my doctors.) I chose to fictitiously treat Madz with a treatment protocol used in real life. Because I made this choice, I clarified in my author’s note that Madz didn’t represent all people with that particular illness and that treatment protocols sometimes change.
What I Made Up
figure skating
As mentioned above, I used generic terms for the names of skating tests and practice sessions. It’s possible some club or organization somewhere in the world uses the same or similar terms. Such a case would be a coincidence. Nevertheless, the generic, descriptive terms would, in my mind:
- help the reader understand the level or type of skating or testing the characters participate in
- reinforce the notion that this story is fiction and does not represent real people or things
- remain consistent even when real organizations change their official terms
Examples of generic skating-world terms in The Beauty of a Spiral
(1) “maneuvers”
When I skated as an adult, and when my daughters skated, “moves in the field” was the name for a type of test and skating session. It described distinct skating moves, such as edge work, spirals, and sequences of them. My characters refer to such moves as “maneuvers” in The Beauty of a Spiral.
(2) “freestyle”
I always used to use the term “freestyle” for sessions and tests involving jumps, spins, and/or a free-skate performance. When I searched US Figure Skating’s terms recently, I noticed they use the term “free skate.” I stick with “freestyle” in my book, as its meaning can quickly be drawn from the generic term.
(3.) “highest level” or “final” skating test
While the popular US skating organization refers to the highest skating level as “senior,” or at least it did, I simply refer to Madz’s senior free-skate test as the “highest level” or “final” skating test. In her case, it’s a freestyle (aka free-skate) test.
medical
To avoid associating the story with any particular medical facility, I made up names of medical institutions and a charity, then searched the internet and the USPTO trademark database to ensure those names weren’t already taken by a real entity.
Examples of medical-related names I created in The Beauty of a Spiral:
Haven Shore Cancer Institute. (Is there one in the world? Not that I could find during the writing of the book.) Same goes for the fictitious “Haven Shore’s Wishing Well” program, another name I invented for the story.
Conclusion
Writing realistic fiction requires research, caution, and imagination. Research helps us create a realistic foundation for a story; caution prevents us from giving the appearance of identifying a particular person or thing. Imagination enables us to spin the fibers of reality into a work of fiction, and by doing it in a thoughtful way, we can, hopefully, confine conflict to the story.