Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers
Would you let your mother see your writing?
Being I'm a fan of dark fantasy, lovecraftian horror, and deconstructive tropes, I can write some brutal and gritty works that take the ideal fantasy image and tear it to shreds. My D&D game for instance has some very gruesome themes, graphic descriptions of violence, and some brutal acts against humanity in general. Especially if Demons are involved (which they usually are).
If my mother knew HALF the stuff I wrote I would be found hanged in the woods and nobody would be able to convict her if they read the other half. I have subverted so many tropes it makes my setting come off as crapsack utopia when I press the "Do not press" button.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stacy Eaton on
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LOL!!! My mother started reading my book, but she said the language and the sexual content disturbed her. So she made me sit down and tell her the story! She said she loved the story line, but didn't like the rest of it.
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Permalink Reply by Greg Halpin on
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That's a fantastic discussion. My mother is in her eighties and is a very devout woman who went to church almost every day for decades. She rarely cursed.
My novella, Welcome to Scranton, contains a lot of profane language. I made a G-rated version of my book just for her. It took weeks to rewrite it. I changed every curse word to a euphemism. Entire scenes and the story line had to be changed. Still, I wanted her to be able to see my book. In fact, one of my motivations was to finish it while she was still alive. She is proud that I finished the book. Even with all that work, she said the story was rather smutty.
Greg
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Permalink Reply by Aries on
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"What the fruit are you talking about you chocolate-ice-cream eating masculine-to-masculine leaning enthusiast!?" - Me making fun of euphemisms for swearing
Ever wonder why we keep our language down around our parents and elderly even though they probably killed someone at Woodstock or in Vietnam?
Stacy Eaton said:LOL!!! My mother started reading my book, but she said the language and the sexual content disturbed her. So she made me sit down and tell her the story! She said she loved the story line, but didn't like the rest of it.
I'm starting to think I'm the only writer who makes the sex scenes actually have some relevance to the overall plot instead of being thrown in for the sake of having someone pork some spinster.
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Greg - Wow.. what a great kid you are! Re-writing the whole thing to make sure mom got to see your work. I had to chuckle when I read the part about her saying it was to smutty!
Aries - lol.... There are a lot of writers out there that throw in sex scenes just to throw them in. Every time you turn the page - someone else is doing someone else to out do the other someone else. I'm like you - my sense have a purpose to my story.
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Permalink Reply by Grace Elliot on
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This is such a good thread!
I write historical romance and my natural voice tends toward the sensous. My Mum is so proud that I have a book published and yet I cringe at the idea of her reading it! I dread the day when my brother helpfully buys her a kindle!! Just to put you in the picture, I had a short story published once on the theme of depression....and she didnt think that was appropriate for a story.
When I sit down to write I very firmly close my mind to the possibility of my mum reading my work! My descriptive powers would be paralysed otherwise!
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I have already warned everyone in my family to NOT read my new book - Whether I'll Live or Die. It deals with Domestic Violence - and that is very close to home in my life. I told them all, I did not think it would be appropriate for them to read.
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Domestic violence is one of the most taboo things you can write about by far. Hell, you will upset someone somewhere no matter how you approach it because of how many lives it affects. You either downplay it, glorify it, or get it completely wrong according to someone out there. It's something that's nigh impossible to play straight, and those that have experienced it certainly wont want to write about it.
PS, telling someone to not read something is going to make them want to read it even more. I tell people of weak fortitude to avoid the visual novel Saya no Uta. They read it anyway and get nightmares from the CGs to it that look something like this throughout.
Context: The main character had brain surgery and it completely destroyed how he perceives things. Everything mundane is blood guts and gore to him, and the titular Saya who is an eldritch monstrosity from space and indescribably hideous appears as a beautiful young girl.
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Aries - Yes I know how Taboo it is. I am a survivor of DV - I am also a police officer so I deal with it everyday in my job. I believe the way I am approaching it will show victims that they can make it out of it. I also hope that it shows the friends and family of those victims that they can help by doing more then ignoring it.
While "Whether I'll Live or Die" is fiction, there are a lot of emotions that are coming to the surface from my past. I weave bits of that into my story - and there are certain things in it that I feel my family might be very upset about to hear. Especially in the detail that I relay it. They all know what I went through and what I deal with in my job - but not knowing what was real or what I fictionalize in my book is what will upset them.
No matter what - I know that this book will cause conversation.... I hope that it is in a good way!
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Aries - Thank you.... It took a long time to get there!
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On a slightly different note, it never ceases to amaze me, how many people write as a way of coming to terms with things around them. My writing is an pressure-release valve, it helps me control the stress in my life. Other writer's I know with mental health issues, write as a way of exploring the confusion in their head.
Just a thought.
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Permalink Reply by Callie Leah on
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Ha! I don't let ANYONE see my writing except my best friend! If she wants to read it she can wait like everyone else until it's published! I only have one person who won't judge me and she's the only one who reads what I write!
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