Everyone knew that the early Superman’s Metropolis was really New York City with the Statue of Liberty in the background and an enormous park in the center f the city; in later years TV and movie producers implied other locations. Perhaps studio heads didn’t want to label a specific city with a random crime wave that needed super powers to fight?
The setting, places and even specific items have the potential of becoming characters in your story. When you are writing about a historically accurate event that is well known in the public domain (ie: history books or news reports), then using the real names of cities, businesses and products is relatively safe. However if your writing is pure fiction and you are planning to poison someone with botulism from a can of tuna, it is better if you don’t name a real brand.
Many writers, like Stephen King, mix real life settings like the state of Maine with fabricated towns like Castle Rock. By borrowing the flavor of an area and using general real life backdrops, you can make a setting seem authentic. When you place your story action in a well known real-life place, any inaccuracy can be offsetting to a reader who is familiar with the actual setting. If your setting is totally fictional, you have to provide enough description so your readers can “see” the place.
Some authors have actually gotten advertising and publicity deals by using actual brand names in their writing, but it is a good idea to contact the company for permission first. There are also some publishers who all but forbid the use of real brand names so you need to feel out each situation first. But if you are using an actual name of a place, business or product, make sure the spelling and capitalization is correct. Companies are actually bound to protect their trademark names or risk using the right to them, if you mess up the spelling or such, you might be subjected to a lawsuit.
Your family life or people you know may be a fascinating subject and one that you would like to write about, but beware… When you are writing about real people and real life occurrences, particularly if the subject is current, you might offend, violate someone’s privacy, cause humiliation or otherwise p*ss people off. If you are writing about your family, you may cause a divide as some folks will fight you. And if you are writing about public figures and disclose personal information that is not otherwise publicly known, you may find yourself being sued for slander. While you might try to play it safe by letting your subjects read the manuscript and approve it, you may also never see it published. Get an attorney for a professional opinion.
Writing Exercise: Free-write for 10 minutes up to 3 paragraphs. Start your story with the words “It is okay to lie when…”
Writing prompt: Make the following list BEFORE you read the rest of this prompt: 1 Noun (general); 1 Verb; 1 Color; 1 Grocery Store item; 1 Number; 1 Friend’s name. Now write NO MORE than 3 related sentences and you MUST use all of the words from your list.
