There's this guy on this other forum, and for some reason, I was so interested by his daily ups and downs and what music he was listening to that I compiled all his posts into a word document and I really wanna make a novel out of it. Like, take his posts and make them into the story that they are. This probably makes me a creepy stalker, but I don't care. Can I pull this off? Can I make a story from the daily life compiling of this random 15 year old?
So you are a stalker... As others pointed out to me in another thread, I think it would be more a blog than a novel, that is unless there is something behind his story like he defeats a disease or overcomes some other extreme hardship. You need that build up, conflict, and resolution.
Sounds like you would be writing a chronicle of his life. His ups and downs might be interesting, but to sell, a story must be compelling.
Real life events are fictionalized all the time. The question is how you make them your own. You have to weave those ups and downs into a story that readers will have a reason to care about. Interesting that you mentioned what music he was listening to. How do you think you would use that in your story, if at all? Nick Hornby wrote a novel called High Fidelity in the first person, in which he defined almost everything in his life terms of particular songs (using titles only, not lyrics). But his purpose was to show the limits of the MC's world view and how it hampered the growth in his own relationships.
You found the story interesting, so you know someone likes it. I think it sounds like good material. But if you don't know the boy personally and he doesn't know you are writing it, be sure others can't tell who it's about. That might be awkward and insensitive. Knowing you, however, I'd say sensitive is a given.
It's not like I know his real name, even the state where he lives, and any of his given hardships are quite common. I think I'm good. Thank you all for your advice!
