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Post by ScintillaMyntan on Sept 21, 2023 9:00:41 GMT -6
Do you have difficulty writing bad things happening to people? How do you handle it? Have you ever refrained from including an idea you had because it's too cruel or disturbing to think about, and where do you draw the line?
I'm planning a novel, and an idea I had was to have a tragic accident with an amusement park ride. While it might fit the story, I would rather not include something so horrific and unpleasant. But then, there are times I've hesitated to include much milder bad fates such as a socially humiliating incident, just for being too stressful for me to want to imagine.
But that's kind of a problem, isn't it, shrinking from things that make me as the writer feel bad? Usually, I stick to 'aesthetically' bad things, if that makes sense. I guess a comparison would be writing about a monster that is cool from our point of view but scares the character, versus a truly disturbing monster that makes me uncomfortable. Or writing about a tragedy that shakes the bereaved character in a beautiful, narrative way versus one where I feel the character's brokenness and would prefer not to think about someone going through that.
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Post by Alatariel on Sept 21, 2023 13:57:55 GMT -6
Yea definitely, especially if it's an idea for a novel and I really like my characters. I can't put them through so much trauma even though it would probably serve the story well. I don't know how so many authors do it. The emotional and physical damage they inflict long-term can be really intense. Like the Poppy War series - just, wow. The character goes through some of the worst stuff imaginable and just keeps have terrible things happen to her.
I don't know if I'm capable of that as a writer, even if it would be impactful.
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Post by saintofm on Sept 23, 2023 3:06:32 GMT -6
I think it depends on the situation and the intensity to the bad thing(s) at hand. Sometimes I want to put them through some mile trials and Tribulation, and sometimes I want them to be on Legendary Mode. And i do enjoy pushing the MC's plot armor to its buckling point (the more hilarious the better). That said I have points where I won't cover.
I want to put the MC of the more High Fantasy one through PTSD (not that he probably dosn't already have it, poor kid) as when he does get old enough to fight in a war on an official capacity, I want him to see the worst it.
THat said, I think we should have limits, namly for what we can handle ourselves. I like blood, gore, and all that fun Mortal Kombat stuff, but I am not really into "torture Porn" levels, and some elements just don't mix.
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Post by RAVENEYE on Oct 4, 2023 21:25:09 GMT -6
I have found it far easier to write about traumatic, horrible, tragic (whatever the appropriate adjective) events in a fantasy setting than in stories that take place in our world. Like, in my epic fantasy series, I researched realistic war wounds and scenarios and wrote about them (my main female character works as a healer in the infirmary), and I felt that glossing over the horrificness of that scenario would be ... disrespectful? to the situation. (That said, once I was finished living in that place for so many years to finish the project, I found that my empathy was through the roof, and I could no longer endure realistic war films.)
But when it comes to characters set in our world, I do draw back more. I hadn't considered this before, and I wonder if setting a story in a fantasy realm gives me some sort of distance from the traumatic events my characters suffer. I think, subconsciously, I even assume readers will not mind trauma-inducing events as much if it happens in a galaxy far, far away versus in their own backyard. The content included, IMO, definitely depends on the intended audience.
My inability to write about my real-life tragedies is one of the reasons I no longer journal. I stopped journaling about the time my sister's baby died of a chromosome syndrome. No words could possibly capture what it was like living through that and watching her living it. And ever since, anything at all that's negative (my mental health crisis, spiritual crisis, marriage crisis, on and on) goes straight to my gut. When I think "I ought to record this somewhere in a journal," I'm overcome with aversion that stops me from going there.
It's not that I'm not processing the crisis and the pain involved; it's that I don't see the need to try to express it all in words. Same thing, I think, when it comes to diving into the details of a real-world character's trauma.
Great question, by the way. Really worth pondering.
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