How do you deal with the deep issues?

By focussing on the story and the characters, and letting other people worry about what I've "said".

I've been told I go into some 'deep' issues regarding my relationships. My only advice would be to be honest & write what is true to you. Readers will value that even if they don't necessarily agree with your outlook.

Its inevitable that a part of you is going to be put into your writing. Who cares what people thing as long as it feels right to you =) (And makes sense =)

In the novels I've written, I usually have 2 or 3 deep issues that I try to address over the course of the story, which drive the characters. In my last story, I dealt with the themes of "a son reconnecting with the father who abandoned him" and "an inexperienced leader learning to guide an unruly group". I guess that was the pressure cooker into which I dropped my MC and the rest of the story emerged from there. I was honestly surprised with the way the storylines turned out as a result of those deeper issues.

The fun part was saying "Okay, I know what issue I want to address, now let me understand the why of the issue." Why did the father leave? Why are they reconnecting?

With humor.

Funny you should ask.... the WIP I just finished did just that. I thought I was doing it for closure for me but didn't really work that way.
I did it for me - I didn't worry what anyone would think (although I'm glad those that read it thought it was done well )

Afterwards...I got drunk & had a good cry...

Good Luck!

Why would I worry about something like this? When I'm writing I am expressing what the character believes. My own personal beliefs often conflict with those of the nutters I write about. It's fiction, why would I be afraid to explore alternative viewpoints or be concerned that somebody is going to be offended? If somebody equates what one of my characters does with ME... they might be taking things a little too seriously. Not everything needs to be an exercise in morality. Opinions as they say, are like buttholes... everybody has one... including my characters (so to speak).

People read stories for the story. If that's lost there's no point. I'm not saying that deep issues can't or shouldn't be incorporated, but the story has to stand on it's own legs. Then again, I love allegory and metaphor.

If you can read between the lines, Tolkien's Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings were rather deep. However, the story flowed without seeming moralistic.

Tolkien said that Elrond was a metaphor for "Ancient Wisdom", in that whoever went to Elrond for advice came in one way, and left going in a completely different direction. That's pretty profound, and if you take that and stretch it as far as it will go, what wisdom is he talking about?

Well, how about "the ends don't justify the means", referring to the assumption that men can take evil "the ring" and use it to do good. It simply corrupts the good until they are evil.

Just remember, deep issues are "deep" because you have to dig for them. If the author lays them all out and points to them to make sure everybody "gets" it, they're not deep issues anymore.

I think one way to make it real for the reader (even if they don't agree with you) is to justify the issue FOR THE CHARACTER. So no matter what, the reader can see, "Yes, I understand why so-and-so feels this way, even if I don't agree." Great example: Million Dollar Baby. I cannot agree morally with the actions of the Clint Eastwood character, his decision at the end. I would not have made the same decision. But I do understand, completely, why he feels compelled to act as he does.

Another way to handle it is to pose it as a question rather than a statement. Have characters deal with the same issue in several different ways; examine it from all angles and see what it looks like. Don't dictate; explore.

For me, these "deep issues," or what I would call Truths-with-a-capital-T, emerge naturally. When I started out writing Ghosts, it was a father-son redemption story. But by the time I got halfway through it I realized I kept looking at the same question over and over again: Is it wrong to kill an evil person? Or, to put it another way, is ending a life really so bad? By the end of the novel I had realized that I had actually changed my own opinion about death. So in a way, I think it was a dialogue with myself.

I think a really important thing is to keep an open mind. If you're absolutely certain you're right and there's no other way to look at a matter, don't put it in a book. If your reader disagrees at all, they're going to feel instantly alienated. It's like trying to have a conversation with someone who just says "Nope, I won't listen. I'm right and I know it." If you can empathize with other points of view, regardless of what your own opinion is, then it's worth discussing.

Some stuff is universal and hard as hell to deal with--loss of a family member, feelings about abuse, etc. I know I'm going to get 'me' into it, but I don't want to preach, I do want the character to present as his/her view, and I want whatever said relevant to the story.

If the reader has a hissy fit--then they forgot or are ignoring the 'fiction' part of the book and I don't write for the dense.

As a writer - well, tricky. I ain't much of one yet.

As a reader? I love to read about 'deep' issues, and how the different characters react to them, why they feel as they do, how it drives them to do what they do.

As long as the author isn't using a character to preach to me, as long as more than one viewpoint on it is presented ( by dialogue/ action for non POV characters), then I'm cool with it. I may agree or disagree with the author's viewpoint, but s/he has shown that there is more than one way to look at it, given me food for thought, or at the very least given me an insight into why other people may feel differently about it, so that I can empathise with the other view.

And that's how I'm trying to deal with my 'deep' issues when I write

Or as the song says 'Every day for us something new, Open mind for a different view.'

HeronW said:

I don't write for the dense.

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Might put that on a T-shirt.

I leave the "issues" to the non-fiction writers.

I ignore the reader -- not that I cater to them in the first place, worrying if the reader won't go there because something is traumatic isn't a concern for me.

Wrap the deep issues around a deep story with good characters who care deeply.

Charlie Horse said:

Wrap the deep issues around a deep story with good characters who care deeply.

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Wow, that was really deep!

HourglassMemory said:

I was wondering how authors thought about the deep issues that they then incorporate in their stories.
Do you worry about it? Like, you think the reader won't agree with your claims? Do you worry about it, or do you think the reader will just have to live with the stuff you've put in the book?
Like claims about friendship or ways to live your life, or what the best type of friendship is, the best type of government is or even if there's an afterlife and such things.
But mainly, my question is "How do you deal with the deep issues?"

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I don't write to preach. I deal with deep issues the same way I have to deal with them in the real world...as they come and face first. I don't worry about a reader having an opinion...I count on it. I am not going to try to persuade readers to my opinions...nor will I look to shock with counter-opinions. Deep issues arrive in my writing where they are needed. I don't tell the reader what to think about these issues, I present them. Maybe that's why all readers take something else out of a story. One may think, "What a load of horse flung crap!" while another may think, "I couldn't agree more!" Mine is not to worry about such things. If I need deep issues in my story, I place them there. The reader will take from my words what they will. Come what may.

HourglassMemory said:

I was wondering how authors thought about the deep issues that they then incorporate in their stories.
[...]
Like claims about friendship or ways to live your life, or what the best type of friendship is, the best type of government is or even if there's an afterlife and such things.
But mainly, my question is "How do you deal with the deep issues?"

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I believe that most fiction doesn't persuade, but rather provokes, informs and entertains. (There are exceptions though, like teaching stories, propaganda pieces and advertisements; I'll ignore those for this discussion though because I don't think they're what you meant, HM.)

Since we're provoking, informing and entertaining I believe that our obligations are to research well, present a balance of views (it can be a skewed balance though), and make it engaging and relevant. Let the readers form their own conclusions.

My preferred way to deal with deep issues is via theme rather than just plot. A theme appears and reappears in a story, in different guises and with different perceptions. This lets readers get multiple views of the same issue. Deep issues especially benefit from such treatment.

A theme isn't like advertising where you repeat the same message over and over. Instead it's more like a tug of war between opposing sides. Sometimes one side gains; sometimes the other. Eventually the reader gets to decide who has won. Your story might lean one way, but readers might lean another.

Suppose you're exploring friendship and you want to see which is more important: loyal friends or honest friends. You may create situations in which major characters face choices between loyalty and honesty. Sometimes one choice wins; maybe sometimes the other. At the end the audience decides which is more important.

I think that if you treat your characters with empathy and compassion, and if you make them credible then the story will stand on its own legs. You don't have to defend the situation or the characters when they have their own integrity. It's only when they're vehicles for persuasion that this issue should really come up.

Single Malt.

Blended if I'm strapped.

I don't write to a theme, if that's what you mean by deep issues, but i write to tell a story. Generally when i'm done, I find I have touched on deep issues. I just don't plan it out, so obviously my subconscious is hard at work while I'm writing.

Ditto Nahlasmoke. I've never sat down to write anything with a conscious theme or issue. By the time I'm halfway through I might notices some popping out, but then I go back to ignoring them until I've finished the story. What I frequently find, in the end, is that the way the theme or issue has played out is not how I would have consciously preferred. But my characters aren't me (thankfully!), so I guess it makes sense that they will act/react in different ways. Because of this, I can't imagine what would happen if I did have a theme in mind when I started. It probably wouldn't be good! But it also means I don't care what anyone thinks about how the issues in my stories are treated because it doesn't necessarily reflect my opinions.

Nakhlasmoke said:

I don't write to a theme, if that's what you mean by deep issues, but i write to tell a story. Generally when i'm done, I find I have touched on deep issues. I just don't plan it out, so obviously my subconscious is hard at work while I'm writing.

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ditto

I tend to just write my stories. My stories are character driven, heavy on dialouge, and tend to deal a lot with the MCs emotions. I don't really think about "deep issues", and though they do seem to show up in my writing quite often, I don't put then here intentional. If they show up, they show up. If not, than they don't. I don't worry about it, because when they do show up, it is because they move the story forward in some way or another, not because I agree or disagree with it.

My series of short stories has been continuing the life story of a single family for the past 20-odd years. In those 20-odd years I've covered 300+ years in the life of this family. As such I've written about many aspects of basicly daily life: illness, death, poverty, war, abuse, political corruption, marriage, divorce, child birth, family feuds, religous disputes, you name it, I've covered it at least once. Some I've covered in depth, but most, I only showed how one character was affected by the event. The thing is, I've never really delt with them on any deep level, because I've not stuck with any right or wrongs in the course of my writing. One of the most used MCs lives by values contrary to my own!

Well, my point is, I just wrote what was in my heart and mind and what felt to me to be the best thing to move my story onward. The way I see it, worry about writing a good story, and if the readers want to read some deep message into it than leave that up to the reader. It's my job to entertain not teach the morals of life.