Many thanks to everyone who made website suggestions. So helpful!
On April 9, 2010, Le wrote, I have an idea for a fiction novel, but the inspiration for the story is from my own life. Some of the characters I want to put in the story will be similar, but not exactly like people I know. Have you ever done this? Have you used people you know as inspiration, and if so, have they noticed they are similar to your characters? Were they happy about this, or offended?
I plan to change the characters quite a lot, so really it is a fictional character from my imagination with just some basic similarities, but those who know me really well might be able to guess who I got my inspiration from. This makes me a little nervous to tell the story.
Also if you use real events from your life as a springboard to write a piece of fiction, will a person think it is really autobiographical? I guess this might just be a possibility you have to accept if you write fiction. People will think what they will, but only the author knows the truth.
There is nothing wrong with writing from your own life and basing characters on people you know. Real people are a great way to get complicated, interesting characters almost instantly. Using them is a legitimate shortcut, and autobiographical fiction is no less an act of creation than making everything up is.
My friend Joan Abelove’s two young adult novels, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, are both autobiographical. Go and Come Back is about the time she spent as an anthropologist in the Peruvian jungle, and every amazing event is true, including what follows washing the turtle at the end. Saying It Out Loud is about Joan’s senior year in high school when her mother developed a malignant brain tumor. Joan changed a few things, made up the dialogue, but essentially she recreated two slices of her past on the page. Both books are for teenagers and older.
Years ago, I contributed a story to a collection about grandmothers. I wrote about this in less detail in my post on artistic freedom on March 24th of this year. (That post has bearing on this one, so you may want to go back to it.) The collection, called In My Grandmother’s House, is out of print, but if you’re interested, you may be able to request it from your library or buy it used online. Most of the pieces are reminiscences, and the contributors may be some of your favorite authors, like Beverly Cleary, Diane Stanley, and Jean Craighead George, and you may want to know about their forebears, who were almost all delightful, loving, cookie-baking grandmas. Joan also has a story in the book.
My contribution is fictional. I imagined an evening at the apartment of my grandmother and my two aunts. This is my mother’s family. I had only one grandmother since my father was orphaned when he was little. The evening could have happened. Grandma’s gambling loss really did, only I didn’t remember it. My sister remembered and told me. I disliked my grandmother and my aunts, who were all mean to my mother. Before I started writing I asked my editor if she wanted granny hatred in the book, and she said that would be terrific!
My aunts and grandmother were dead by then, also my parents, but my mother’s brother was still alive, and I didn’t want to hurt him, so I called him and told him about the project. He was horrified that I thought he might interfere with my creativity (he died last summer, a lovely man), and he told me a few more family stories that did not show Grandma in a favorable light.
I didn’t ask for permission from his children, who’d had a better relationship with our grandmother than I’d had. If they objected, they could write their own stories. I went ahead. Writing the tale was surprisingly moving, especially bringing my parents back to life. Details flooded in (with help from my sister on the olfactory side), and I recreated our family in the early 1960s.
No one has ever complained.
The grandma story is the only strictly autobiographical fiction I’ve written, but Dave in my historical novel Dave at Night is based on my father’s childhood, and the character of Solly in that book came from my friend Nedda, who was alive. I didn’t talk to her about it until long after, because Solly may be the most positive character in any of my books. I didn’t see how Nedda could be insulted, and she wasn’t.
This is not to say that I’ve never gotten into trouble. I named a main character in one of my books after a family member. My intention was to honor her, but she didn’t feel honored and didn’t tell me. I found out years later from someone else. I named the fairy Rani in the Disney Fairies series after my sister, who gave me permission, but then she wasn’t happy about some of the shenanigans her namesake got into.
If you are combining characteristics of real people – Marianne’s generosity with Barry’s habit of never covering his mouth when he yawns with Pam’s inability to apologize – you are on entirely safe ground. Or suppose you rename your friend Vince, call him Samuel and turn him into a character, keeping everything about him the same except for the physical description. Once you throw him into new situations, you are on safe ground. As soon as he acts in circumstances that you’ve invented, he becomes your creation, Samuel, no longer Vince. Vince wouldn’t do just what you have Samuel do; he certainly wouldn’t say exactly the words you give Samuel.
If you are afraid of hurting feelings, you can discuss what you’re planning with the people involved. You won’t know their reactions until they react. One person may be flattered, someone else insulted, and then you can decide what to do. But if you’re changing this and that and moving events around, you don’t need to tell. You can even deny. Without too much wickedness you can say, “You think you’re like that? Huh! How fascinating!”
It isn’t hard to disguise people. If you make Vince short when he’s tall, give him a talent for the accordion, and have him deathly allergic to peanuts, you are probably home free.
I once read descriptions of several personality types, and I found myself in each one. It is likely that if you write your characters precisely as you experience their real-life counterparts, the actual people won’t recognize themselves. The girl you know is beautiful may see herself as ugly, or she may not be aware of how smart she is. The person who truly is a miserable human being will very probably not see himself in the villain unless you give the villain his first and last name.
Life is an author’s source. Don’t hold back from dipping into the well.
Here are some prompts:
• Write a memory as if it were a story. Make up the missing bits. Take yourself back to the moment with sensory details: what you see, hear, smell, touch. Include the mood and your thoughts and feelings.
• Extend the memory beyond what you recall into a fictionalized future or even a few versions of the future.
• Think of a time when you were victimized, maybe teased or ganged up on. Replace yourself with someone you know. Write how that person would have handled the situation. Make it into a story. You can try this with more than one stand-in for you.
Addendum: Five minutes after posting this I got worried. If you are writing about a memory that involves a crime or something that would seriously damage a real person’s reputation, I think you do need to be careful, because you don’t want to be sued for libel. In that case, change the circumstances and the real characters enough to make the people unrecognizable.
Erin Edwards says:
I'm curious, 🙂 what did you mean when you said "with help from my sister on the olfactory side"?
I have a couple of items that I inherited from my grandmother that I haven't put through the laundry because they smell like her house. I have a daughter with a really keen sense of smell, and when a package arrives from one of her grandmother's houses, she always wants to stick her head inside the box and smell the contents – she says they smell like the house they came from!
Rose says:
I went down a 45-foot-high zipline at camp a few weeks ago. It was a challenging and wonderful experience in many ways – which sounds silly, I know, but that's how I saw it. I wrote one piece of fiction about it, using real people but no names, imagining some dialogue and using some actual.
Then I wrote a description exactly how it was, and it's gotten a lot of compliments by people who said it was thrilling.
I think it's all in how one writes something. I put as much literary thought into the actual description as I did into the story, and so it's been at least as popular as the story was.
Chantal says:
Hi! I haven't commented on your blog for a long time. It's always great to read your posts.
I've been thinking about this very subject recently. I have three sisters and in my mind, have several stories that feature four sisters. The most prominent in my mind brings these four sisters together after the tragic death of their mother tore them apart 5 years before. Each of these sisters has something going on in their lives (baby, divorce, infertility, struggling with religion) and in the end, they come back together. I don't know how my sisters would feel if I told them that each character is inspired by their lives, as I'm playing around with their lives, you know? I think it could be a phenomenal novel, but I also don't want to make them angry. And my mother is still alive, I don't know if she'd like being killed off, haha.
The other story is a short story and shows how my family treated me during a certain period in my life. I suppose I'm not too worried about this story because I'm showing them as I saw them then.
Anyway, I hope you're doing fine 🙂 If you ever come to Hawaii, let us know! I'd love to come to a signing event.
Jill says:
I know what you mean about not exactly admiring grandmas. But for me I love love love my grandma. It's my great-grandma I don't feel so great about. She treated my grandma awful. She didn't care about her or her brothers and sister. She also took my grandma's dad away from her.She died when I was seven almost eight. All I remember about her was how pathetic she was, which is mean, but still, I remember thinking I don't want to be like her.
Also, are you coming to the southwest anytime soon, especially Oklahoma??? I want to see you so bad and I could drive anywhere like Texas or Kansas or something close. 🙂
F says:
I really enjoyed reading this post! As soon as I read the topic, I remembered your grandma reference from before, only to have you repeat it again. 🙂
athena14Lee says:
Thanks for this post! Your mention of grandmas made me think of my own grandparents, and of a project I started some time ago (but haven't made any progress on). Because my grandparents lived through much of Vietnam's recent history, I've been wanting to record their memories and turn it into a biography of sorts. My problem is that though the stories sound believable enough when my grandparents are telling it orally, on the page they fall flat, especially when I try to transcribe them into English. I want to stick to what really happened, but I can't seem to make it work. Help!
lilyofseafoam says:
Thank you for this post. In one of my works-in-progress, I am writing a character like someone I knew once as a formal apology for judging him before. He died four years ago, but I did speak to a close friend of his before beginning to write it. Your advice on the subject is wonderful, and your addition at the end was funny and very true. I love the prompts and plan to start working on them now!
Silver the Wanderer says:
As of now, I don't have any characters based off of real-life people, but I was thinking about basing someone after myself…maybe? I don't know. Am I interesting enough? 😉
@athena14Lee, could I offer a suggestion? If your grandparents are around to tell you their stories orally, perhaps you should record them as they speak? That way, you can go back to the video when your writing seems flat and listen to them talk…facial expressions and tone of voice can be very powerful and helpful in writing memories. Good luck with your biography…my grandparents had interesting lives as well (they were both in Germany during WWII), so I'd love to write one too someday. But I don't think I'm quite up to the challenge yet…
Elizabeth says:
I started a story a few years back and my intent was to take people I knew (not necessarily well) and use them in my story exactly as they were. I used their first names and for one, her last (it changed in the later in the story), but she did know that I was writing it and she was in it. The story took an unexpected turn for the better eventually and I realized that using people for characters doesn't really work, at least not in my stories because my characters started to evolve and change and be nothing like the people that I know and based them off of. I think that was actually better because then I wouldn't have to work around a quality that I didn't like or didn't fit. I could just change it or pretend it never existed. It'd be hard for me to use people as characters exactly as I know them because with the circumstances, they might start to change and not be the person I know.
Mya says:
Grandmas can be hard. Your post, along with the memory prompts, brought back vivid memories. I've got two grandmas, one who I feel neutral about and the other who's truly a big bad wolf in sheep's, or better "grandma's" clothing.
I've actually been wanting to write a story about her for some time, I think it'd be a great novel, they're so much happening where she's involved, but I'm quite sure my family won't be too pleased.
Has anyone heard of Chinese Cinderella? Its an autobiography by Adeline Mah, I think she'd around her 60s now, not sure, but the book shows her awful childhood experiences with her family before she had the chance to technically escape to the US.
I'm pretty sure she wrote the book after the people she knew had died, so perhaps, can till we're older to base negative incidents on real life people?
On a lighter note, thanks heaps for the post. I think I shall feel braver using real life people, especially if it involves fictional situations.
gailcarsonlevine says:
Erin Edwards–My sister reminded me of the way our grandmother's apartment smelled and how Grandma herself smelled, which was not good.
Chantal–I would love to go to Hawaii!
Jill–Nothing planned for the southwest, but who knows!
Athena14Lee–I don't know if these thoughts will help, but you may want to ask your grandparents what they thought and felt at critical moments, what a typical day was like, and you may want to do some research, read about the period, look at photographs.
Rose says:
On a not-so-related topic:
What about the portrayal of parents in kids and YA lit today? I've read some about it on other blogs and . . . is it really necessary for the plot to have parents that aren't there or don't care? Just wondering what people think about this.
Silver the Wanderer says:
@Rose, interesting observation. I've read some really fantastic books with wonderful parents who help the kids on their adventures. But I think it's hard to write a coming-of-age type of book if the main character is too dependent on adults to help them out. It's not that it's necessary for the parents to be absent/bad. I just think it's more difficult to come up with a plot that works.
Lauren says:
This post was really helpful! In almost all of my stories I have one or more characters based on someone I know. They usually end up veering away from the original person I was basing them on. Which is totally fine, because then it isn't as restrictive or seclusive to the way that the character can act.
Also, I was wondering… are you in the process of writing anything? I absolutely LOVE your books, I've read all of them except "The Two Princesses of Bamarre" which I am reading right now. I love how you incorporate romance into an adventurous tale, or daring escape story. I was so happy to find this site and can't wait to keep reading and learning!
~Lauren
gailcarsonlevine says:
Rose–I'm adding your question to my list. I have more to say on the subject than I want to put in a comment.
gailcarsonlevine says:
Lauren–Oops! I missed you. Well, if you've been reading the blog, you know that A TALE OF TWO CASTLES will be out next year and FAIRIES AND THE QUEST FOR NEVER LAND just came out. And I'm working on a second mystery to follow A TALE OF TWO CASTLES, which is coming along very, very, a dozen verys, slowly. And in 2012 will be my book of mean poems, which I can't remember if I've mentioned. And there's the picture book this September for the four-to-eight-year-old set, called BETSY RED HOODIE. So, the answer is yes!
Jill says:
Rose- I know this sounds terrible, but in all the books I read with parents who don't care or aren't there, it sort of makes the character or plot. Maybe because her parents don't care Lucy is scared of commitment. Or because their parents don't care, two kids are failing school. I don't know, that's what it seems like to me. On the other hand, I may not understand your question! 🙂
Jill says:
I have a quick question for anyone reading this!
I was watching Beauty in the Beast the other day because my little brother hasn't seen it yet (by the way he loved the songs, he's four). I realized when I was little, I did whatever it took to be just like Belle, including loving to read. Whenever my dad caught me reading he called me Belle and that would make me so happy.
Do you think because TV shows make school and reading look uncool, kids don't like reading or try not to read all the time? I mean my friends tease me about loving to read all the time. And that was just my friends!
This was just a thought…
Rose says:
@ Jill – I did a paper for class on declining literacy, and I think that what you're talking about is a big deal. Nowadays kids are pressured to play video games, watch TV, use the Internet, and shop, more than to read books – at least that's the way I've seen it. But then, a popular series or book will draw kids to read it because their friends are all reading it too. Like girls who don't generally read will read because of something the other girls recommend.
Erin Edwards says:
@ Rose: That's a great question! I'm glad Ms. Levine put it on her list.
In the book I'm working on I made a decision not to kill off any of the parents and I do think it makes it harder for the kid protagonist to solve problems on their own. I think I figured it out, but we'll see. Right after I made the decision to keep all the parents, I walked into my daughter's room where she was reading. She looked up with a big tear rolling down her cheek and said, "*Why* do you keep giving me books where the mom *dies*?" She loved the book she was reading (ME AND THE PUMPKIN QUEEN) but even though the mom died before the book started, it still upset her. That helped me stick to my decision!
As for some techniques to keep the parents in book but out of the way – you could make them really busy with some big life event, like a job change, going to graduate school etc. and either the kid doesn't want to bother them or the parent is always distracted when the kid does try to ask them something. Unfortunately, that is something we can all be guilty of as a real parent!
Lauren says:
@Jill: that is a very accurate observation! I've been homeschooled until this coming Fall, so I wouldn't know as much about that from a school-stand point, but as far as my friends at church, homeschool groups, and other social gatherings, I have gotten the feeling that books aren't held at the same high level that knowing about the latest TV shows and movies is.
I personally LOVE to read, and have some close friends that like to do the same. (actually, I wanted to be Belle as well when I was younger :)) But as a majority, the only time average kids will read is when they have to, or the book has become very popular among their friends (i.e., Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Harry Potter, etc.)
~Lauren
Jill says:
@Rose and Lauren-I know what you guys are talking about. I don't like Twilight, but it got a lot of my friends reading. So I guess it can't be all bad! I also know a lot of people who have only read Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. My friend also only reads those clique girl books. My friends always hate books for school because they don't want to read anything someone told them to.
Jenna Royal says:
Speaking of killing off characters, I have a question about it. In a story I'm writing, I had originally planned on killing one of my characters. But my other characters are very close to him, and I am concerned that killing him will ruin the story by making it to sad. How do you know if it's a good idea to make you character die? How do you know if it will help the ending or ruin it?
@Rose, Lauren, and Jill – I have the same experiences with reading. A lot of people only want to read what's popular, if they want to read at all. I for one don't understand it. Who could resist a good book?
Lauren says:
@ Jill & Jenna- I know! I often read books no one has heard of, but I think it's the quality of the book that makes it interesting, not if it's popular. And just because it's popular, doesn't make it a good book.
Sometimes yes, like with my previous examples, HP & Percy Jackson. I haven't read Twilight, and I really have no desire to for several reasons. 1) vampires don't interest me at all. Even though I'm into practically every other kind of fantasy creature (i.e., elves, dwarves, fairies, etc.) 2) I have read reviews and talked to my friends who have read it, and it doesn't sound enjoyable personally. I'm talking about the content, not the author. I also don't want to read it because of a variety of other reasons. So I don't know if it's good quality, or just a fad. (Obviously it has to be a little "deeper" than a fad because it's now being turned into movies, but anyway…)
~Lauren
Rose says:
@ Jenna Royal – I've often planned to kill an MC by the end of a tale, and then gotten to the point and ducked out 🙂 because it's easier to decree death in a plot than actually carry it out with a character you've spent a while with. But then I've known many books where it's a good or at least reasonable thing for the plot to let an MC die (have you ever read Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles? Sad but beautiful). It's all in what tone you want for the book, I think. I've had some stories turn darker on me in the middle, and sometimes I've purposefully kept a story light and pleasant.
My strongest feeling is this: if the character you're thinking of is going to get himself into a major difficulty, and you're not sure whether to let him get out of it or not – if you let him survive, make it believable, don't let the readers be saying "how'd he manage _that_ all of a sudden?"
Hope this helps!
@ Lauren – thanks a million! I was beginning to wonder, am I the only girl my age who's just not that turned on by the notion of vampires? I don't even mind the odd werewolf if the plot needs it, but . . . really! Fantasy is my home genre, but "paranormal romance" is not.
Grace says:
Thanks again Ms. Levine.
I personally love to take characteristics from real people and use them to breathe life into my characters. There are so many diverse and interesting people in the world, one can never run out of characteristics to use.
This was a great post, thanks again!
gailcarsonlevine says:
Jill–The kids I meet are generally bookworms. I don't think not reading much is a new problem, In 1947 Jimmy Durante (comic singer, very popular) sang a funny song called "The Day I Read a Book." You can listen to it online. Much of it is dated, but it's still funny.
Jenna Royal–I suggest you try your story both ways.
Lauren says:
@ Rose- I know! Werewolf, sure, falling in love with a vampire, uuuh… and then, killing yourself or whatever Bella did to become a vampire? A little weird… I like the way you put it, "paranormal romance" haha! I love putting romance in my stories, but it doesn't involve killing yourself to be able to be with that person… But you know, some people really enjoy that, *shivers* so it's just a personal opinion 🙂
~Lauren
Elizabeth says:
I agree with Lauren and Rose. I've never been very interested in vampires and I have no desire to read Twilight. I think it became really popular because it got turned into a movie. I had never heard of it before then, and then everyone was talking about it. It might also be a big deal because girls are all into Team Edward and stuff.
Personally, I think it's just going to be a fad until all the movies are done and maybe another year after that.
Rose says:
@ Elizabeth and Lauren – I'll be really glad when it's done. I've been to Forks, Washington, twice – once before the books, once just this last year – and it's actually nothing that special. Aside from all the posters etc. now.
I'd like to see lists of "books to read as alternative to Twilight, or to give your pals after they're done with it." Frankly I have a few already to put on it . . . that I lurk around the YA section in my library and recommend to people . . . 🙂
I'm sorry if we've sidetracked your blog, Ms. Levine! Apparently this is an interesting topic 😉
Lauren says:
@ Elizabeth & Rose- Same! I hope this blows over soon as well 🙂 what a wonderful past time Elizabeth! I should try it!
And I apologize as well Ms. Levine! Also, I have a question… I was rereading part of one of the stories I'm writing, and I just realized how forced the writing sounds. How can I change it? Should i completely re-write it, or just change bits and pieces? How can you edit your work with out getting totally discouraged and wanting to give up? Thanks!
~Lauren
F says:
On the killing your characters thing – In my novel, there was a character I had who I wasn't sure whether to kill or not. After much thinking, though, I decided that he would recover from his wounds, because it seemed best at that time. The next time I sat to write, however, I killed the character off on the spot (there had been a death in the family, and that was my way of dealing with it). Literally, my next line was "He had been recovering so well, and the next thing everybody knew, he'd taken a hair-pin turn and died." That character death really improved my story, in the end. If the character had lived, I think he would've been detrimental to the story's development.
So what I'm saying it, I believe killing off characters really strengthens the storyline. I really respect authors who kill off their characters, because it's sometimes a really hard thing to do. But in the end, it pays off.
(Unless it's uselessly killed, like after the climax is over, the character slips and cracks their head. THAT is not amusing.)
**Sorry if that's slightly incoherent**
Elizabeth says:
Lauren- That's weird timing. I just started editing my story today. It's a lot of work and really slow. I edit part of it and realize that I'm going to have to come back and edit it again and probably again and again. It is discouraging. But I know my book will be better because of it. I think that's how I know not to give up. What I would do is reread the whole part that you know you want to change, or better yet, the whole story. Then decide if you need to redo all of it or not. If not just disect it piece by piece and make little changes at a time to make it better. Then do it all again and again until you think it's perfect. By that time, though, you probably will have rewrote the whole thing. 🙂
And sorry, Ms. Levine, for the whole Twilight thing, I just get fed up with how obsessed people are with it. 🙂
Lizzy says:
Hello
When writing a story and following the story line of intro, rising action, pinnacle, etc….. how early can you jump into the action or the climax?
Can you have a quick intro and have the rising action sped up to get to the pinnacle?
gailcarsonlevine says:
To those who worry about getting the blog off topic–I enjoy the comments and the directions they take.
Lauren–I'm not sure what you mean by "forced" writing. Would you explain more, and I'll see if I can say something helpful.
Lizzy–It depends on how long a story you're going for, but even if you're writing a novel, it's usually good to start the action quickly.
Jenna Royal says:
Thank you, I think I will try it both ways. Don't worry, F, it made sense!
Rose says:
@ Lizzy – I like getting into the action pretty fast, but it's rather disorienting being dumped straight into a battle as soon as you crack the book open. On the other hand, I read a book in English class last year where the first 5 pages were description (1 page devoted to the clothing of a character, if I remember right!). There's a nice middle ground in there. Also, different people think of it different ways. I'm willing to hang onto a book for a while to see if it starts getting more interesting, whereas my brother used to complain if we didn't see something getting started within a few pages.
Lauren says:
@ Ms. Levine- I mean when the writing sounds fake. Kind of like what you wrote in that one chapter in "Writing Magic", where you gave two kinds of dialogue involving a couple girls and weird smells one of them thought was coming from the science lab, but was actually smoke? One was very formal and didn't sound like two tween/teenaged girls, and the other one did.
~Lauren
Rose says:
A question to Ms. Levine and the rest – how does a writer decide whether to make a story mainly funny or mainly serious? I've been writing a story that I saw as humorous, but it's been getting very serious already, and I'm not sure if this is a bad thing. If so, can someone help? My tastes naturally tend towards the dramatic, though, so it's probably just that. . .
Lizzy says:
Thank you Ms. Levine and Rose for the great advice and help.
Jennifer says:
I watched a movie, and since there isn't any movie novel for it, I wanted to write one. First of all, is this an OK idea? And second of all, I'm planning on adding in some extra scenes and changing the dialogue a bit. I can't call this my own novel, because the plot and characters will still be the same, but I want to "flesh" out some of the background characters. I already started writing it and am pleased with it (except for one scene).
F says:
@Rose – ha! I've been writing a story that I thought would be really serious, but it ends up having it's funny moments, too! And the tone is quite light-hearted. I'd love to hear Ms. Levine's answer to that.
Lauren says:
@ Rose- you know, if you decide it should be one thing, and then it changes, I would just go with the flow. If it seems natural, then it shouldn't be shut off. If you want to, you could open a new document and copy+paste the old one onto that, and write what comes natural but is different from what you started with, and continue writing it funny/serious on the other doc. Then you can choose which one you like best 🙂
~Lauren
Rose says:
Thanks, Lauren. As I said, it's a common problem for me. Or the other way around, like you, F. I intended it to be a light sort of fantasy/parody, but then a main characters' sister had an accident and nearly died, and then the other main character turned out to have all kinds of unpleasant memories of long ago . . . you see my problem.
gailcarsonlevine says:
Lauren–Thanks for clarifying. I'm adding your question to my list.
Rose–I've added your question too.
Jennifer–For publication you would certainly have to get permission to novelize a movie, but if you're practicing and not thinking of publication, you're free to do what you like, and it sounds like a good exercise.
Tai Tai says:
I have been wondering about this subject a lot. I definitely base characters in my fiction stories of people I know in real life.
In some ways, I think basing your characters off of real people makes it easier to get a sense of who your character is. Usually my stories consist of a trio of girls, one based on me, and the other two based on two of my friends.
Thank you for the writing prompts, I'll start working on a few of them.
Tai Tai