Message Board Topic For 4/28

[Comsie]

While writing stories from the heart, and ocassionally from your own personal life, there may be times when certain 'issues' become a part of the story. Issues that may contain offensive content.

 

It may be a small event in a long series, or it may be the main focal point of the entire plot. But the content can be realy hard for some people to digest. They may be shocked, or turned off, or insulted. The question this week is...how can someone write or create a story with offensive content without being...'offensive'?

 

Stories with racist, anti-religious, homophobic, content. Stories that may contain scenes of rape, abuse, suicide, or murder. Stories about school shootings, adult/youth relationships, violence, excessive drug use, or anything else that may catch some of your readers off guard and cause them to cringe from the awful impact of it. How should someone treat these topics? Is there a way to talk about them openly and honestly without scaring off people who might be sensitive to these issues? Let us know!

[JamesSavik]

Some of our readers think that they might like a rainbow fantasy land with cute little bunnies and nekked angels, all bright world where everything is perfect, there is no conflict and people always do the right thing. It would be boring as hell and no one would read it.

 

Without dramatic elements, most specifically conflict, everything would be like an endless Russian novel: a study in paranoia and depression. The source of conflict rarely comes from debates over Sunday school lessons- and even so humans have still managed to have a 100 Years War and a dozen Crusades all over religion. The most basic of conflicts are between good and evil and its many manifestations. Framed in that way, the source of conflict almost always comes from "the dark side" of human nature or experience.

 

Offensive content is usually offensive to overly sheltered little b*tches who need to grow up and realize that a) it's fiction and there is a world past their own limited world view. If they wet their pants because somebody smokes a joint in your story, don't have a cow. If it wasn't that, they would find something else to wet their pants about.

[Trackie]

I always think you should be true to the story. Whatever you think it should be, it should be. Putting limits on a work of art degrades it and I wouldn't want that, even if the alternative is something nasty.

 

...or you could put in comic relief or something?

[Graeme]

If the offensive content is out of context, then it's wrong. If it's in the context of the story, then I don't see a problem with it being included.

 

Having said that, you need to be aware of your target audience. If it's a group of no-holds-barred readers, then you won't have a problem. If it's for a group of romantics who want a luvvy-duvvy story, then you need to be oblique in your references.

 

You don't write horror stories for a romance audience, and you don't write romance for a horror audience. If you want to write for a particular audience, then you have to write appropriately for that audience, because it's writing in-appropriately that makes something offensive. If you don't care who your audience is, such as if you are really just writing for yourself, then don't worry about it -- just write and don't be concerned if someone may find the content offensive.

[Comsie]

Hahaha! I must give praise to Jamessaavik for the comment on this one! Very well said, my man! And very true. I've always been the kind of person who might not like something that I see or read...but regarded it as ONLY being my opinion. I don't have to make comments about it, or try to have it done away with, or worry that it ruined my fragile little mind. I can just say to myself, 'whoah...not my thing', and choose to either keep reading...or not. Art is what it is, I think it should be left alone.

 

Trackie makes a good point about maybe making light of the situation. Which can be a clever way of dealing with something that is, in no way, funny. Maybe some lighthearted moments can help to balance out some of that dark content. When I write "My Only Escape", I know that there has to be some kind of hope and reward in reading through to the end of the story. It can't be all pain and suffering. That would make for a very hard read.

 

And Grame brought up the subject of audience. Which is important. You have to think about whether or not the particular audience you're writing for is going to be able to get into what you're writing. If not, then chances you are going to offend an unsuspecting reader, and that is going to cause a very negative reaction overall. If people read something, and aren't expecting graphic depictions of gay sex...they're not going to like it when it happens. However, some people know EXACTLY what a story is about, and still get mad when they see something they don't like. Hehehe! Which takes me right back to Jamessaavik's comments above.

 

Anyway, thanks for the input, you guys! I appreciate it!

[Phantom]

When it comes to writing, I don't play around with the rephrasing of details to make it all nicey nice because it can sometimes detract from the whole meaning of what you write, but sometimes it can be a necessary evil.

 

Here's what I mean

 

I think that its best to not go all into the gory detals (i.e. elaborate about how you rip someones throat out in detail, or go into unnecessary detail about a rape of a character) because it can subtract from the meaning behind it. At the same time though you shouldn't leave those situations out because what if that's how the character got his views on life? Or if that is what the character does to progress the storyline?

 

Sometimes its hard but thats why you always let others read what you wrote and gauge their reaction.

 

Well... thats what I think! :wacko: