Do you have to do this??

Question:

Do you have to do this??

if you are writing a novel at the moment, and the setting is at a fast food place such as McDonald's, do you have ask McDonald's if it is okay to have their restaurent name in the novel or can you just put McDonald's in there without asking anything?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It would depend on what will happen in your McDonalds scene. If its just a casual mention or basically occupying a small part (i.e. your two lovers have a spat over hamburgers) then you can use the name.

If it's intrinsically about the fastfood (i.e. about mcdonalds workers and their lives behind the counter) then it would be safer to invent a name for the place.

Also, I suggest you take it easy on time-markers / pop references in your novel because it will make your novel "dated" (being relevant for a certain time period only).

Best of luck!