This post in this thread woke up the old brain weevil...
Let's talk iffy subject matter. What won't you touch?
Is there such a thing as going "too far"?
In my current WIP, a handful of children are tortured and killed. It is heavy stuff, hard to take emotionally, and- I suspect, not being a parent myself- it will be tough on parents. I do not, as a general rule, go into a lot of gory detail for the sake of turning stomachs... but if I'm to keep with the truth of the story, these scenes must stay in. The children and their fates motivate my MC and my villain and craziness abounds.
Thoughts?
Do you have a "stop" switch? What trips it?
There's no harm in asking, if this helps you decide how to write a scene. But the reactions you got in this thread should warn you of the level of emotion such a scene might provoke in readers.
-Derek
Let's talk iffy subject matter. What won't you touch?
Is there such a thing as going "too far"?
In my current WIP, a handful of children are tortured and killed. It is heavy stuff, hard to take emotionally, and- I suspect, not being a parent myself- it will be tough on parents. I do not, as a general rule, go into a lot of gory detail for the sake of turning stomachs... but if I'm to keep with the truth of the story, these scenes must stay in. The children and their fates motivate my MC and my villain and craziness abounds.
Thoughts?
Do you have a "stop" switch? What trips it?