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Blog award, and a puzzling question

I promise not to make a habit out of posting twice in one day, but I am excited by McKenzie McCann's blog, in which she is celebrating a year of blogging, and giving away an award! Congrats to McKenzie on all of your success! I am new to your blog, but I always love to hear what you have to say. I think everyone should go check it out!

Also, earlier I mentioned self publishing, and my brain has gone into overdrive, wondering about strange and tiny things. For example, my story is centered around a fictional soccer team. When I was just writing it for me, that was one thing, but I'm not sure how it works if I want other people to see it. Is it okay to create fictional football teams in a real place, or do I need to make up a fictional city too? And can I pretend the team is part of a genuine football league and mention real teams, or do I have to create everything myself?

I know that is a bit rambly, and slightly desperate sounding (lol), but they are things I don't actually know. Does anyone know any websites or books I can check out to learn these small, but important things? There is no rush to self-publish, and I want to take the time to learn how to do it properly - but I am certain my mind won't slow down until I at least know where to look for the information, so I thought I'd throw it out there to all of you awesome people in the hope than someone can point  me in the right direction!

Thanks, and I promise to be calm again tomorrow! :D
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Comments

  1. Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader15 February 2012 at 18:07

    It's fiction. You can make up worlds all that you want and that includes fictional football teams and fictional towns. No you don't have to create everything yourself. Be careful with using celebrities. You can talk about them, but you don't want to actually have them as characters because that infringes on the copyrights they have on their names.

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    1. Kyra Lennon15 February 2012 at 18:12

      Thanks Michael! I don't have celebrities as characters, so that part is okay lol. I guess I was just overthinking everything, which I tend to do when I get an idea in my head! *blushes*

      Delete
  2. Author Joshua Hoyt15 February 2012 at 22:56

    I agree with michael. It is fiction you can do whatever you want to do. If you do use real things like teams and towns make sure your facts are correct. If there not this can cause some problems with readers.

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  3. Unknown16 February 2012 at 00:50

    There is nothing wrong in doing it either way (fake soccer team, fake town or fake soccer team, real town) but I would choose the former. I hope your story goes well. Also, congrats on the award.

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  4. Anonymous16 February 2012 at 01:51

    Fiction is a "no holds bar" game, you can do whatever you want! But, Michael hit the nail on the head: Celebrity names are copyrights and need to be respected. Nothing wrong with using a fictional version of them *hint, hint, character type*! :)

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  5. Trisha16 February 2012 at 03:05

    I've got similar problems (in my own head at least) with my contemp. romance story - it's set in Australia, but all the places people visit are fictional. I haven't decided what to do yet, and have gone back & forward on whether to keep the places fictional or not.

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    Replies
    1. Kyra Lennon16 February 2012 at 08:51

      I feel your pain lol! It's a tough decision to make :(

      Delete
  6. Neurotic Workaholic16 February 2012 at 06:46

    I don't know much about sports, but I think it should be okay. I think it's similar to how some stories have fake schools in real cities; I guess one reason is because the authors probably don't want alumnus from real schools to write letters to them to make "corrections".

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  7. Kyra Lennon16 February 2012 at 08:52

    Thanks for your help everyone! <3 That has eased my mind a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Elizabeth Seckman16 February 2012 at 16:41

    I would probably do fake team/ fake city (or a city without a team) because it is fiction and there's no need to confuse people. I was thinking of movies with fake sports teams (I live in a house of men, we live and breathe sports), they all seem very real while you're watching, but you know they are fake. Does that make sense?

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    1. Kyra Lennon16 February 2012 at 16:58

      Yes, totally! I have decided to go with a fake team and fake city. The matches aren't really a part of the story as much as the people who work on the team, but obviously, I need to set everything up, just in case I need to use it later. It's very chaotic lol!

      Delete
  9. Roland D. Yeomans16 February 2012 at 17:47

    I was about to advise a crafted city of your own so you could make the mayor or other dignitaries as pompous or as good as you wish. I wish you luck in this endeavor! I will help with any questions you might have, Roland

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  10. McKenzie McCann17 February 2012 at 06:03

    Well, I know of a book called Bat 9 about girl softball players around the WWII era. I'm pretty sure it's fiction. There might be a start.

    There are also movies like Bend it Like Beckham and Chak de India. I'm not experts on the cans and can'ts of those things, but I hope this helps!

    If you're worried about things like copyright, I know the basic guidelines of that is don't slander the thing, and don't make it the generic term (i.e 'he grabbed a Kleenex,' or, 'she googled it.')

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    1. Kyra Lennon17 February 2012 at 15:05

      That helps a lot!

      I'd forgotten about Bend It Like Beckham! I should probably watch that lol!

      Delete
  11. Anonymous17 February 2012 at 06:49

    I've had no issues reading about fake teams, fake cities, or anything else fake. As long as the author has created a world I can sink into, with the appropriate details and realism, I'm absorbed in the book.

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    Replies
    1. Kyra Lennon17 February 2012 at 15:05

      Excellent, I will try to make it as real as possible :D

      Delete
  12. Carol Kilgore17 February 2012 at 18:57

    If you keep it real, details need to be as correct as you can get them. And real things may change before the story is released. My current WIP is set in a real city, but the main location is fake.

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  13. Morgan17 February 2012 at 20:39

    I'm all about the world building! Make it all up! ;) So excited for your adventures, Kyra. It'll be fun to travel with you through the journey! :D

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jeremy Bates25 February 2012 at 01:55

    "Morgan and Kyra" can i join to travel with you through the journey! :D

    ReplyDelete

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