I’ve been working on a fantasy novel, and one of the core motivations for one of the MCs is that he is an abused child. I don’t want to trivialize it, so I don’t want to pull punches, but I don’t want to traumatize the audience or focus on the abuse itself either.
It’s a third person book, split between two MCs. MC one is a witch, and MC two is her new apprentice, a boy who’s being threatened by his father to steal from the witch (and beaten when he doesn’t). So, if I make the abuse too weak, it won’t justify his stealing, but I don’t want it to be so bad as to make it a downer of a book either.
I’ve been writing it so that during the witch’s POV she observes bruises and other injuries on the boy. And one scene during the boy’s POV where his father menaces him. But I refuse to include any graphic depictions of physical abuse.
Does this sound like I’ve drawn the right line? Would this turn you off as a reader? Can you think of examples where this has been done tastefully or distastefully? Is this too heavy a subject for the genre?
I’m about 2 weeks and 21,000 words into it, and I’m trying to figure out whether or not to continue.
It’s a third person book, split between two MCs. MC one is a witch, and MC two is her new apprentice, a boy who’s being threatened by his father to steal from the witch (and beaten when he doesn’t). So, if I make the abuse too weak, it won’t justify his stealing, but I don’t want it to be so bad as to make it a downer of a book either.
I’ve been writing it so that during the witch’s POV she observes bruises and other injuries on the boy. And one scene during the boy’s POV where his father menaces him. But I refuse to include any graphic depictions of physical abuse.
Does this sound like I’ve drawn the right line? Would this turn you off as a reader? Can you think of examples where this has been done tastefully or distastefully? Is this too heavy a subject for the genre?
I’m about 2 weeks and 21,000 words into it, and I’m trying to figure out whether or not to continue.
Last edited: