Writing Etiquette

Writing Etiquette For Non-Fiction-ish Writers

In Practices by Phillip Allen

Writing Etiquette For Non-Fiction-ish Writers

With every fancy sounding title, there must also follow a great explanation behind it. What do I mean by writing etiquette for non-fiction-ish writers? Well, let me break it down a bit. We should all know what non-fiction is. It’s writing that is based on facts, real events and real people. History textbooks and biographies are a good example of non-fictional literary works. For the purpose of this article, a non-fiction-ish writer is someone whose writing is substantially based on real life. It does so in a way that doesn’t refer to the people they represent by name, maintaining privacy. The extent of this protection goes only as far as people who don’t know them or of the particular events presented.

I had the great pleasure of meeting one of these writers, the creator of Poorly Drawn Thoughts, Chris Grabowski; you can find him on Twitter @PoorlyDrawnGuy. Fun Fact: he is the first outspoken comic creating hobbyist I have ever come across. We had a delightful chat about his webcomic series, which he writes and illustrates quite appropriately might I add. It is a deceivingly simple yet mature webcomic, and I found out that there is a lot of interesting things that lie behind this production curtain. Second Fun Fact: when he was starting out he used to use a Nintendo 3DS to create his comics anywhere and anytime (this blew my mind).

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He revealed to me during our talk that many of his characters, dialogue and stories are based on real life. The main character, his wife, son and his co-workers are based on himself, his wife, his son and many of his co-workers. Some would even be an amalgamated representation of a number of people he knew. That is not to say he lacks creativity. Trust me, I would not be doing him justice if I tried explaining it, you are better off reading his work yourself.

Having shared this with me I asked him whether he ever felt compelled to ask his friends and family for permission to use their representation and their words in his webcomic series. He told me that it was his policy. Good writing etiquette is good for everyone. It leads to less trouble, everyone gets to feel involved, and nobody gets their feelings hurt. You might even avoid legal trouble.

Keep in mind sometimes people say things that may have sounded great to you at the time, but that they might regret. They may never want to be associated with what they said. The first people you market to are your friends and family. You don’t want to loose them as a valuable connection, much less lose your friends or have to deal awkwardly with family members, because you wanted to entertain some strangers. This is something I personally agree with and strongly advocate. Have good writing etiquette! If you do, you get to say you have it. It’s fun to say, and now you have a fancy way of explaining it.

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About The Author

Phillip Allen

Writer, Editor, and Founder of Unknown Comics

Hello there! My name is Phillip Allen and I'm the writer, editor, and founder of Unknown Comics. I am an aspiring comic book creator. In an attempt to learn how to create my own comic I came to learn just how few reliable resources existed out there. From a few books and unhelpful websites I decided to focus my attention on researching and writing a resource for both myself and the rest of the comic creating industry. This website and and its content is the result of all of that hard work.