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

[GDIwriter]

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.

[33girl]

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.

[Gusteau]

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!

[APhiAnna]

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.

[GDIwriter]

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?

[Save Ferris]

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.

[RU OX Alum]

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.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

write what you know.

This.

[GDIwriter]

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.

[RaggedyAnn]

Originally Posted by GDIwriter

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.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

NO. 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.

[Leslie Anne]

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

Good luck!

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

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 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.

[Leslie Anne]

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.

[honeychile]

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.