So I'm writing the opening scene to my story (hecking fiNALLY, it took me forever to get started with that) and I'm starting to realize that my book is super violent. Like, so bad that I'm not sure I'll be able to write a lot of the things I intended to write. The book seemed cool in theory but I'm making myself upset when I read it because it's so violent and so many good people get hurt.
But if good people didn't get hurt in my book, there'd be no point.
How am I supposed to write the original plot without triggering myself? Please help lmao
Just Realized How Violent My Story Is
group
@evastardust
groupRRAAAARRL
RRAAAARRL
You could:
- Use fade to black to describe the violence
- Use phrases like "I can't believe what I'm seeing" instead of "I saw [super graphic description]"
- Have a co-writer write the violent scenes for you
- Use mostly fade-to-black or more discreet phrases until the most important death occurs.
Other than that I'm not really sure…
I think your story is important and needs to be told, and I think sometimes it's important to remember that bad stuff happens to good people for no good reason and that's the bitch of living.
"That's the bitch of living" lmaooo
Yeah I might need somebody to help me out with the more violent scenes
group
@evastardust
groupRRAAAARRL
RRAAAARRL
It sounded poetic in my head lol.
I'm trying to think of strategies but I don't really read gory books….
Well it's not really gory, but it talks about really disturbing things. Like I'm writing the opening scene, when the main character finds a journal full of the shooter's plans, and it's really difficult to write.
group
@evastardust
groupRRAAAARRL
RRAAAARRL
I don't know if this strategy will work, but maybe after you write a difficult scene, take a break to do something that's light and makes you happy. Like watch a comedy thing or an animal video, pet your floofy dogs, eat something sour or sweet, etc.?
What kind of stuff?
What kind of stuff?
Panic attacks, school shootings, depression, yelling, fighting, homophobia, emotional abuse
Pfft. Everything except the shooting is pretty chill.
group
@evastardust
groupRRAAAARRL
RRAAAARRL
I could help with the panic attacks if you need someone to write those for you….
As a concerned individual, how is the homophobia done?
Okay, well
I'm a depressed person with severe anxiety, constantly surrounded by fighting, homophobia, and is/has been emotionally abused.
But I can't remove any of those things from the story, they're all way too important to the plot. I'd have to rewrite the entire plot, and that took me months the first time.
The shooting is, of course, the most difficult. Mostly because it's something absolutely horrifying, and also something I've never experienced, so writing it accurately without causing myself to panic is going to be extremely difficult for me.
As a concerned individual, how is the homophobia done?
What do you mean?
Like what happens?
group
@evastardust
groupRRAAAARRL
RRAAAARRL
Okay, well
I'm a depressed person with severe anxiety, constantly surrounded by fighting, homophobia, and is/has been emotionally abused.
But I can't remove any of those things from the story, they're all way too important to the plot. I'd have to rewrite the entire plot, and that took me months the first time.
The shooting is, of course, the most difficult. Mostly because it's something absolutely horrifying, and also something I've never experienced, so writing it accurately without causing myself to panic is going to be extremely difficult for me.
So for the school shooting, maybe focus more on the emotions than on the action? Like how the characters react to the situation than the situation itself?
Like what happens?
Well, there's an openly gay football character in the book. At one point, he opens up to the main character about how there were guys who used to always attack him whenever he was alone and use homophobic slurs
The main character gets in a huge fight with his parents when they find out he's dating a guy, and try to force him to break up with him
The main character also says something to his cousin that comes off as homophobic, even though he didn't mean it that way. They get in a fight and his cousin cuts the main character out of his life.
Okay, well
I'm a depressed person with severe anxiety, constantly surrounded by fighting, homophobia, and is/has been emotionally abused.
But I can't remove any of those things from the story, they're all way too important to the plot. I'd have to rewrite the entire plot, and that took me months the first time.
The shooting is, of course, the most difficult. Mostly because it's something absolutely horrifying, and also something I've never experienced, so writing it accurately without causing myself to panic is going to be extremely difficult for me.So for the school shooting, maybe focus more on the emotions than on the action? Like how the characters react to the situation than the situation itself?
The emotions can really get to me too sometimes
group
@evastardust
groupRRAAAARRL
RRAAAARRL
Okay, well
I'm a depressed person with severe anxiety, constantly surrounded by fighting, homophobia, and is/has been emotionally abused.
But I can't remove any of those things from the story, they're all way too important to the plot. I'd have to rewrite the entire plot, and that took me months the first time.
The shooting is, of course, the most difficult. Mostly because it's something absolutely horrifying, and also something I've never experienced, so writing it accurately without causing myself to panic is going to be extremely difficult for me.So for the school shooting, maybe focus more on the emotions than on the action? Like how the characters react to the situation than the situation itself?
The emotions can really get to me too sometimes
Oof. I'm not sure then….