Helpline
Your writing problems solved with advice from Diana Cambridge
Diana Cambridge
Email your queries to Diana (please include home-town details) at: diana@dianacambridge.co.uk or send them to: Helpline, Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD. She will answer as many letters as she can on the page, but regrets that she cannot enter into individual correspondence. Publication of answers may take several months. Helpline cannot personally answer queries such as where to offer work, or comment on manuscripts, which you are asked not to send.
Q I’ve identified a series of events, in real life, that I’d love to develop into a radio drama. The events first came to light in 2008; one of the main ‘players’ died in 2012 but others are alive and well. Do I need permission, in whatever form, to work with a story like this? Or is there a way of telling it that means I can simply say ‘based on’ in the credits? And are there any other options I might be missing?
JACQUI SCHOLES-RHODES Longcot, Oxfordshire
A You can’t libel anyone who is dead: so that’s one worry out of the way! But you’re on shaky ground with the others – if they’re around, then you do need their permission before you mention them in any kind of writing. But if your story is based on a national or global event – for example, an environmental disaster, a crime, a political scandal – then you can write about this; much of the material will be in the public domain. Rather than use real characters to tell the story, can you invent some around this event? If it’s vital that you include actual people, then you’ll need to approach them first.