On Depictions of Abuse in Fiction
Labels:
abuse,
author advice,
book authors,
child abuse,
creative writing,
emotional abuse,
fiction,
opinion,
physical abuse,
sexual abuse
·
This disturbed me for a number of reasons, but first and foremost, the astounding number of people (including people who knew abuse survivors) stating that they would never read such a thing, that the subject matter was appalling, and even that it shouldn't be written. This type of attitude, this silence about such a horrific yet important issue, only makes the problem worse.
Child abuse is a subject commonly depicted in my works, because I feel the greatest sorrow in my very soul for human beings who have had to go through such deep pain. I have been fortunate to never have it happen to me, but I know several people who have. It is an issue that is dear to my heart and I truly want to gain support and understanding for victims by depicting abuse and its life-destroying consequences in my fiction.
So when people act as if this kind of subject matter shouldn't even be brought up, I get a little upset. Fiction is meant to challenge us, and no, it's not always rosy or easy to read. But without it, we're never going to grow as a society and rally together against all of the horrible things that happen behind closed doors. People in abusive relationships sometimes don't even recognize the abuse for what it is, and instead of remaining silent about it, we need to scream loud and clear, though our fiction and otherwise, that these things are not okay. And sometimes, yes, this involves details you probably don't want to know. If making our readers feel and see the pain of these fictional characters helps even one real life person, and we have to share descriptions not everyone wants to read, so be it. After all, for real victims, there are no scene changes or time jumps.
Now obviously, I am not referring to any abuse written in an obviously salacious way (that's beyond disgusting), or if the abuse is simply used for shock value. While it is never a good idea to make an abusive experience practically the sole trait of a character (because, hello, it's not), keep in mind that this might be the result of an inexperienced or mediocre writer with good intentions even if the execution fell short. Also, while I'm not the biggest fan of trigger warnings, if your book contains scenes of detailed abuse or its aftermath, you owe it to your readers to slap a warning label on it.
What do you all think? Speak in the comments!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment