The Work
PBW talks about what a writer owes her readers — if anything. Steve wonders what should be included or left out of adult fiction — and asks how to tell. I’ve been working around the house, reading around the blogosphere, and wondering what on earth I might have to say here, when it occurred to me that Steve and Sheila (PBW) were writing about similar (but not the same) topics. Steve is writing about a subset of Sheila’s topic.
I also ponder what I should include in my fiction. Sex is easy to toss in, but does it really contribute to the work? Is it necessary? It’s easy to think, yes, I need it to make this or that point, but is it really? I’ve been reading some excellent fiction lately with no sex or violence.
Two of my WIPs have too much “adult content.” When I run the One Pass Revision on them, I’ll be looking for more effective ways to tell the story.
At PBW’s, I held the view the writer doesn’t owe the reader anything. If anything, the writer owes it to themselves to write the best story possible. In doing that, I believe the readers will take care of themselves — no, every reader won’t be happy, but the writer will have appealed to the best readers for his or her work.
The questions I ask myself are:
- Is this essential to the story?
- Is there a better way to handle this without the graphic detail?
- Do I want my name associated with this?
If the answers are “Yes. No. Yes.” then I know I’m ok. If not, I have more work to do.
By the way, Rosina Lippi has an excellent take on the question related to “Why didn’t you write the book this way?”
Good post, Jean. That is the key question…”Is this essential to the story?” In writing a darker character, I find myself using profanity, graphic violence and inner turmoil much more than needed – if it is needed at all. There are plenty of painful protagonists that don’t require all the junk I described to “prove” their character traits. It is easy to fall into this mode. Especially, for me, in first person mode.
I wonder if I have been so programmed by the anti-hero generation that I believe to be interesting, a darker protagonist needs to use profanity, violence, et al.
And the third question…”Do I want my name associated with this?” …that is really the key one for me. I really don’t want a legacy filled with smut and junk. I want my children to look back and say, “Dad believed that goodness can prevail, even if it is hard work.” “Dad tried to write with dignity and honor.”
Dignity. Honor. Foreign words to this generation. Words I need to explore more myself before putting pen to paper.
Believe me, I am not trying to take a moral highground so that I can sit upon a mountain and look down on others. Far from it.
I just miss heroes that overcome – that face conflict and fight to do the right thing. And in writing grittier fiction, I fall into the pit that I am trying to escape.
Grit is friction. Friction is 2 objects moving against one another in opposite directions. After much soul searching, I think that the profanity, graphix sex, graphic violence, et al, are more a means to express my inner pain that create friction in my stories.
And in the end, I don’t want to lay out a buffet of sorrows. I want my readers to see a man that fought against pain and sorrow and tempatation and won.
Temptation.
Have your protagonists give in and let it all hang out…or have them struggle against the temptation to cuss like a sailor, use people for pleasure, and hurt on a whim. Call me old fashioned, but I’ll take Superman, Rocky, or On the Waterfront.
Terry: If I spill, my life ain’t worth a nickel.
Father Barry: And how much is your soul worth if you don’t?
Father Barry: You want to know what’s wrong with our waterfront? It’s the love of a lousy buck. It’s making love of a buck – -the cushy job – -more important than the love of man!
Well said, Steve. I have characters who have taken the easy way out — for at least part of the time. They have succumbed to human frailty. In at least one case, the character suffers for it and rethinks her actions. In the other, the character suffers and loses — he’s the villain, and he believes he’s right (for most of his bad behavior — he does have a partial epiphany, but it wasn’t enough).
But I, as the writer, don’t want to take the easy way. I want to write effectively, and I know it was done effectively in another place and time. I respect that. I want to emulate that.
Pingback:S. William Shaw, Writer » Blog Archive » My Weekend: Superman, FBI, And My Reveal
I try my best to make my characters as real as possible without the adult content. I try to find other ways to express the pain or the contempt or the hate, because I think it’s harder and it says more about the writer and the character.
With the risk of sounding cheesy, I most often pull the old “he sweeps her into his arms and carries her into the bedroom – door closes” routine most of the time. The reader will know what happened – the act itself isn’t important to the story, only the reader having the knowledge that it happened – then I can move on with the story.
I have a current WIP that *might* have an adult scene but only because there’s something that will happen during that scene – aside from the sex – that’s important. Telling about it afterward lessens the impact in a huge way. The whole “show, don’t tell” thing, you know.
I think that’s where you have to look. Does the reader need to see it because of what’s said or happens there, or is it simply okay for them to know it happened? At least with regards to sex. Other adult topics (language and violence) are a bit tougher actually.
Thanks, your post jarred me to look at that scene from a different way. ^_^
Yes, language in particular, I think is tougher for me. So far, violence hasn’t been an issue for me (maybe I need more?).
So much of Twilight doesn’t need the on-page demonstration of the act — the mere fact of how often and how casually it’s undertaken (and the motivation for doing it) is what’s important. In fact, just discussing it with a friend was shocking enough, so I’m completely rethinking how to convey what I need to convey.
I’m chalking much of it up to NaNo word count efforts, since I write my first drafts during NaNo. For future efforts, I’ll know this about myself and be able to easily slice and dice these scenes. (At least, that’s what I think now…)
By the way, I got Talyn in the mail today! Thanks again!
Thanks for letting me know, Jason. Enjoy!