My view flipped on using real grief in story prompts

I always figured sad real life events were free material for writing exercises. Our group had a prompt to craft a tale around sudden loss. I based mine on a coworker's family tragedy, changing details. She saw my draft and quietly told me it reopened her pain. That conversation made me see her not as a source but a person with feelings. Now I believe some experiences are off limits unless you have direct permission. Writing prompts should spark imagination, not borrow someone's hurt.

4 comments

4 Comments

noah8723mo ago

Yeah that "reopened her pain" part really hit me. I used to take details from news stories for prompts until @blair881's comment made me realize how messed up that was. Like, would I want someone doing that with my worst day?

shanelopez3mo ago

But doesn't all fiction basically come from real human pain and conflict? If we couldn't write about the hard stuff we'd have no great books or movies, they'd all just be happy fluff. Writers have been using news stories for ideas forever, it's how art comments on real life.

blair8813mo ago

I used to think exactly like that, that any sad news was just material for a story. Reading how it "reopened her pain" was a huge wakeup call about the REAL people behind those events. Now I firmly believe some hurts are just too personal to touch without asking.

price.ray3mo ago

So where do you actually draw the line for what's okay to use, like does it only count for people you know personally or does it extend to public tragedies too lol