Non-Greek Wanting to Portray Sorority Life as Part of Story/Script
 

Hello,

I am a recent college graduate and one of my hobbies is writing and I have worked on both stories and scripts before. Anyway, I have been rolling around several story/screenplay ideas that involve sororities (I recently saw "Sorority Row" and such), but I would like to try and portray Greek Life in a more realistic and neutral/positive viewpoint as part of the story.

I am thinking the story will be a mystery set in and around a sorority house, but I want to avoid the cliches and stereotypes seen in movies and novels that involve sororities. I am also trying to aovid just a straight-up slasher type plot.

I am debating who the protagonist will be, either a GDI who gets invited to a party at a sorority house or a Catholic Priest who works at the college's campus parish (I have been reading McInerny's "Father Dowling" series and outside of my hobbies, I am discerning a possible calling to the Priesthood).

Already, one question I have is what are sorority parties like?

Also, if/when I get stuff onto paper, whether as prose or a script, would any of the people here be willing to look chapters over and comment on its realism and how it portrays sororities? Obviously, comments on the plot, etc. would be welcome to.

First off, some people find "GDI" offensive. Just saying is all.

NPC sororities do not have parties at their houses. Unless you're talking about rush parties/recruitment events. Those parties are for women interested in joining the sorority and do not include men, music or alcohol.

I love the Father Dowling series! Anyway, I would recommend looking around here and familiarizing yourself with Greek Culture if you want to write a fair portrayal of Sorority Life. Good luck with your story, and your discernment process!

I'll echo what 33Girl just said...sororities do not throw parties at their house (at least not the typical college party...no alcohol). I have never heard of a sorority breaking this rule. Local sororities can/do sometimes (I had a friend in a local sorority and they definitely threw parties at their house).

As an Agatha Christie junkie, I would probably read a well written murder mystery that takes place at a sorority (hell, or one that takes place at a government building, English village, zoo, space...you get the picture). An interesting story could be set around recruitment...but then again, very few sorority women (if any) will disclosure their sororities membership policies and recruitment preparation guidelines, so that might be pretty hard to research.

So what I am hearing is that a party idea as a setting for a mystery would be unrealistic since the NPC sororities (which would be the well-recognized ones) do not have such events and it would be unrealistics for a Non-Greek (whether just a random student or a Priest-sleuth) to be involved at a recruitment/rush event.

The issue comes down to:

A) A realistic crime (obviously, murder is the most 'common' crime in a mystery)
B) How would our protagonist be involved? Wouldn't the police get irritated with a meddlesome amateur (even though in the Fr. Dowling series, the Priest and a head detective are good friends, realistically I would think most officers would feel a little bugged to be upstaged by a proverbial amateur)? Of course, why would a sorority (especially if the antagonist is high-up in the sorority itself or the Panhellenic Council) cooperate with a 'civilian'? Cooperation with the police is a must to avoid suspicion, but with a Non-Greek student or Priest?

How would sorority women probably treat either a Non Greek or a Priest who was somehow involved? The stereotype would say that they would treat such a person quite poorly, looking down on them and that might make good tension in a story (if you ever watched "Monk" or "Columbo", one of the neat things was always seeing the important/powerful/brilliant character being outfoxed by the unassuming and underestimated sleuth), but I'm not so sure if that would be a realistic portrayal of the situation. How do Greeks view Non-Greeks, incl. both students and non-students?

Just because we're Greek doesn't mean we look down upon non-Greeks. Of course, there are Greeks who do but that isn't because they're Greek; it merely represents their character.
We view them as people.

It also depends on the campus. I go to a Jesuit university and we treat our Priests with respect. We treat non-Greeks with respect. If a campus has a smaller Greek life, you'll have a better chance at integration between Greek and non-Greeks. If a campus has a large Greek life, it's easier to believe (at least in fiction) that there would be a greater division between Greek and non-Greek.

Another thing that hasn't been mentioned here- please HIGHLY research your sorority names to make sure it isn't already existing.

write what you know.

You seem like you don't know about greek life at all so why set your story there? Set it in a GDI all freshmen dorm or something.

This.

Is it okay to use a well known sorority name as the setting? Obviously, the sorority itself is not being attacked as wrong or evil, only the member(s) who is/are doing something evil.

NO, not without permission. The only reason why Denise Swanson can use our name is because she is a sister and it was approved by headquarters.

Plenty of writers who are not members of fraternities or sororities have used real organization names in their work without permission. It can fall under fair use.

That said, why risk offending part of your potential audience? I'd steer clear of real sorority names.

I'm finding this very intriguing. Love that you're trying to get an accurate picture of Greek life.

Good luck!

I use the NAACP, several colleges, APO, Alpha, AKA, Kappa, and Lambda Pi Chi fictitiously in my novels. Like the disclaimer says, I used them fictitiously to give the novel a sense of realism.

The main fraternity in my novel was fictitious though. As well as the main two colleges.

Aww, writing.

I'm having all sorts of ideas for this. It's pretty fun.

Just something that I was reminded of since you'd like to involve a priest.... At the University of Maryland most of the sororities are in the same area which is residential. Right in the middle of it and two doors up from my sorority house is a church. It's next door to Tri-Delt. I'm guessing that this isn't a unique situation. As I recall, there's a church down the street from sorority row at UCLA too. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that the priest could easily come from the campus parish but could also just as easily be a neighbor/eye witness to something happening at a sorority house.

If you really feel the need to have a GLO background, read a few books by Anne Rivers Siddon. She's one of the few who uses sororities & fraternities in her novels without offending.

The idea is to have the greek community day, "GDIwriter knows her stuff!", not "that creepy GDIwriter is a real user". We work hard on a day to day basis to maintain good PR about our community. We don't need a GDI to muck it up. In fact, it would be easier for us to list subjects you should avoid like the plague - such as hazing.

Actually, I am a him, but I see what you're saying.

And what are other subjects you would want to see avoided in a plot/story?

Sorry about the gender mistake. I think there are a lot of hot button issues, so I'll just start off and let others chime in:

-sorority women are only interested in looks and fraternity men.
-getting wasted (fraternities or sororities)
-greeks needing at least 5 years to graduate.
-greeks are all in school on "Daddy's money".
-greeks having no friends outside of the greek system.

How's that for a starter?

I am wondering if a script that portrays Greeks as basically good people would even get picked up. :(

Thanks. I'll make sure to try to avoid those stereotypes. In terms of the general plot, here is what I am thinking (this is still in kind of brainstorm form):

MOTIVATION FOR MURDER:

A couple of years ago, Sorority Girl A and B were driving home from a party and 'A' had had too much to drink (it is not meant to imply they all drink, just this one) and ran over someone. 'A' is a very ambitious, intelligent and unscrupulous person. Since they were on kind of a deserted road, 'A' decides to just hide the body and she pressures 'B' (who is kind of malleable and scared) to keep quiet.

Now, 'B's conscience is getting to her, leading to some mental health issues. 'B' is planning to see a psychologist and 'A' is concerned that 'B' will confess the whole thing, thus ruining 'A' so 'A' decides to murder 'B' and make it look like a suicide and set it up so that 'B' will leave a note confessing to the hit-and-run, thus ending two concerns for 'A'.

The college is in a small community and the police are readily able to accept it as a suicide.

PROTAGONIST:

A newly-ordained Catholic Priest who is in charge of the Catholic student ministry at the college. 'B's parents know the Priest's family and through that roundabout connection, the Priest agrees to at least look into the issue.

The Priest would be intimidated by the sorority women and he would feel like a loser among...well...sorority women, but he begins to notice some suspicious issues (the suicide note/confession was typed and printed and he notices the appointment with the psychologist scheduled on her PDA [why would someone make an appt. w/ a pshrink if they were going to kill themselves the day before]).

The Priest's work is cut out for him:

1) Find out who killed 'B' (fairly quickly, he begins to suspect 'A' but can't prove it)
2) Figure out a way to bring the murderer to justice (the police are reticent to view it as anything other than suicide)

Sound interesting?

No. You say you want to avoid stereotypes and in the next breath, use them. The story would be no different if it was Jane and Jen, two best friends who live in the dorm. The sorority angle is just an attempt to "sex it up" and play to everyone else's stereotypical thinking about sororities.

Why would he feel like a loser among sorority women? That makes no sense. A priest who's intimidated by 19 year old girls, I have trouble believing would have even been ordained.

PTITY??? SRSLY??

Remember, isn't the use of any setting and characters an attempt to try and play up the story? I mean Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" could have taken place on any old train or not even on a train, just some flophouse that got snowed in.

In terms of plots, there is a limited number of unique plots (Polti claimed 36, I think Aristotle claimed there seven or eight basic plots). In terms of a murder mystery, there are only so many reasons why someone is driven to such an extreme act.

Although the antagonist is depicted as being evil, I will try to portray the sorority women as diverse (like any group: some better than others) and I am thinking it will be another sorority woman that helps the Priest (I come up with names when I start writing) bring 'A' to justice.

Whatever. You're obviously not listening to the advice people are giving you and you're gonna do what you're gonna do anyway.

Then how would you do it?

Oooh, oooh! How much you wanna bet it's a member of the rival sorority? :rolleyes:

A wise man already told you.

I agree with 33girl. There's nothing remotely related to sororities in your plot other than as some sort of hook. Could be any "it" girl. I also think the priest thing seems forced, like you have two scripts shoved together.

If you're going to write about sororities, I would rather see something about recruitment or general house life that is specific to Greeks. Something that actually gets it right. Any time there's a sorority-related movie or show, I watch to see if they manage to get something right. They rarely do.

However, if you can't get the terminology, rules, regulations, ideals, and other factors of Greek life correct- don't do it. You would need to do a lot of research, beyond just message boards, to get it right and do the system justice as you are saying you hope to do.

LOL. I hadn't thought of that.

I see you're point, but (and maybe this is an unfair question to ask) how would one market such a plot (whether in novel form, or TV/movie)?

You're definitely not understanding what 33girl was saying.

The point is... why do they have to be sorority women? There isn't anything about the story that requires Greeks to be represented. Most movies that portray Greeks are ABOUT Greeks. Or they have parts of the plot that are more focused on Greek life (even if they're stereotypical or innacurate).

You just came up with a story about a girl being drunk and running someone over, and decided to throw some Greek letters on it.

I guess I thought it would be interesting.

Well, it might be interesting if you worked on it some more. You've gotta start somewhere.

What would you suggest?

Which is exactly what you said you DIDN'T want to do (make it "interesting" by having Greeks involved).

That's what everyone here is saying... people always try to make things "interesting" when portraying Greek life by throwing in stereotypes, inaccuracies and exaggerations. You asked how not to do that. But now you admit that you thought a drunk girl running over a person and covering it up would be more entertaining if she had some letters on her shirt.

I guess I just don't understand what you're aiming for here.

Well, hey, I'm not a writer.

If you're really married to the idea of using a sorority then try to think of a specific reason why it's necessary to the plot.

Well, I would like to, in the story, portray Greek life realistically, but within a larger plot (a murder mystery in this case).

But why?

Like most of the others in this forum, I'm also not a writer. But I would imagine that you would need a strong plotline, then pick the setting (Sorority event or house or something), and then fill in the details to make the setting enhance the plot. Maybe it's just the way some of this discussion is framed, but I get the sense that you have the setting and are trying to find a plot that works. Marketing doesn't become as much of an issue when you have a strong plot. Perhaps that's why many of the Greek-related productions haven't gone well- they've tried to sensationalize Greeks and use the setting as the catch.

This leads to a larger discussion because I know not everyone agrees, but I like the tv show Greek. They don't get it all right, but they get more than most. They also enforce some stereotypes (like the obsession with cats as the ZBZ mascot) while breaking others (dorky science guy in frat). They don't just reinforce the terrible ones or give a one-sided view. Most of the storylines, though, are really just about college students who happen to be Greek.

I'd love to see a well-constructed book/movie/show about a sorority... I'm just trying to say that it needs a good plot where the Greek pieces enrich the story rather than being the story.

This sounds like the Father Dowling version of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" with a side of "Sorority Row".

ARGH!! There is so much wrong with all of this, and not just a "writer" who doesn't know the difference between "your" and "you're". Adding onto/repeating some of the other feedback:

As a sometimes-writer (trained and paid), you are ignoring the basic rule for (especially first time) writers: write what you know. You have no knowledge of Greek life, and no apparent knowledge of Catholicism, the two "worlds" of your main characters.

Second, "research" done on the internet doesn't count. Usually, writers will immerse themselves in various elements, conduct personal interviews, spend time with real people who embody some of the characters traits/jobs/hobbies. For example, to learn how crimes are investigated, talk to police detectives. To learn more about how a Catholic priest "works", spend some time learning about what his daily life is like (I'm not sure if you know anything about Catholic priests, because a priest is not going to be intimidated by a bunch of college girls. He's ordained as a vessel of God - he will not lack confidence in the sense that you are intimating).

Third, you are forcing two worlds together. You have not found a NATURAL intersection of worlds. Gimmicks are cheap and easily seen through. You know one when you see one.

Fourth, you have no idea where your story is headed. You can't just start to write "It was a dark and stormy night". Until you know where you are going, you can't start "at the beginning". There is no point B, so you can't have a point A.

Fifth, can you sum up the story in a few sentences? It's called a "pitch". Look it up.

I had a long day yesterday and my brain is fried. I'm up way too early and had too little sleep. You obviously haven't done your homework (in terms of how to write, or your intended subject matter). Until you do, you likely will not have success with this endeavor. Take the advice or leave it - after all, we are only strangers on the internet who took the time to give you honest feedback.

PS. Take a class or two in writing. Find some books on how to write for reading/film/tv. There are some very subtle differences, as well as some major ones. Also look into the industry standard on marketing your writing.

ree-Xi, I just read you siggy...I had to chuckle. Nice!

Thanks, but I can't take credit. :) Someone was doing "online research" for a paper and I asked how one would cite an internet forum in a research paper. I can't find the original thread. I'll post it if I find it.