Would you find this book idea and this character offensive?

If you want to teach them a lesson, teach them the right lesson.

Not a good idea in my humble opinion. And don't ask me why.

And Blue - why don't you just do something instead of seeking approval for everything that crosses your mind.

Get your first book finished - FIRST.

With all due respect to the OP if I am incorrect but are not all these posts that I occasionally read here or ones related not a joke? Really not trying to be mean spirited here and disrespectful to anyone-the OP obviously included but they do seem strange to say the least. Perhaps I am just getting too old to understand what is going on!

BlueLucario said:

I want to write another book, but I'm not sure if it would be offensive.

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Whom are you worried about offending? Until your book is written, it can't be sent out to beta readers, agents and editors. Until your book is published, it can't be available to the reading public. So why worry about it offending people before it's even been written, let alone published?

Secondly, how many times have you said here, "I want to write a certain scene/storyline/book, but I'm worried that it'll offend people/freak people out/make people think I'm abnormal"? And how many times have people posted to reassure you that it's OK, that you can write anything you like?

Maybe you should get a Post It note (a large one) and write on it,

I can write anything I like.
I will not worry about my subject matter offending anyone.
I will not worry about my subject matter freaking anyone out.
I will not worry about my subject matter making anyone think less of me.
I can write anything I like.

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Then stick this Post It note over your computer screen, where you can see it whenever you feel the urge to ask whether you can write about whatever you want.

You didn't ask, but the intended topic is not one I would like to get immersed in while writing over a sustained period as a teenager unless I thought I could cope with the stress of doing so till the work was completed.

No happy thoughts or story ideas floating around there?

BlueLucario said:

My idea for a book is about a young boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's constantly bullied and used for the personal gan of others. He's sad lonely and all that. He dad claims that he's being teased because he isn't "manly" enough. His teachers do nothing to stop the teasing. His older sister spreads lies about him saying that he's mentally challenged, so she can make herself look good.

But his boy is going to do something extreme. He's going to take his father's gun to school and start shooting. Killing 28 people and himself. I want to write this book, but I don't know if it's offensive. Or if this idea is acceptable.

Would you have sympathy for the boy?

What do you think?

EDIT: I'm still writing my first book, but I feel this new one woul teach people a lesson.

To MODS: I don't know where to put this thread. So if I posted in the wrong spot, feel free to remove it.

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Blue. Could you please check your spelling and sentences before posting.

personal GAIN not 'gan'

Does his DAD claim the he (the dad) is being teased, or that the boy is being teased.

Also, 'HE dad', should be 'His dad'

But his boy is going to do something extreme. Should this be THIS boy?

I feel this new one woul teach. Should be 'Would'

I'm not trying to be picky, but it would be easier to read, and understand your posts, if they were a bit more well thought out and coherent.

Don't worry what everyone thinks of your ideas. Write them well and people will enjoy them.

My 14 year old son has Aspergers and he is treated pretty much the same way you described your MC in the first paragraph. One of my biggest fears is how this will all affect him as an adult. My heart breaks every day when my son comes home and tells me about what the kids at school do and say to him.

I wouldn't be offended by your story but I wouldn't be able to read it either. It would be too painful for me because I know how it is to suffer from Aspergers and the cruelty of other human beings. Sometimes I almost feel like shooting a few of them myself.

Have you ever heard of We Need to Talk About Kevin? I've never read it, but it is a published book that was received pretty well by the public, about a boy who brings a gun to school. I think if that book can make it, so can yours.

Hi, Blue!

I'll give you my perspective as someone who's worked with a lot of kids with Aspergers and Autism. I think a book written from the perspective of one of these kids is an awesome idea. It's not a point of view you see too often, but when you do it's bloody fascinating. If you feel you have the knowledge and the experience to pull it off, then you should go for it.

In my experience, though, the families of kids like this are loving and supportive - even overly protective. I'm sure not all families are like that, but be careful of making the family "the bad guy". It's usually a lot more complicated than that.

I'd be very careful of the ending you are envisioning. You're still in school, right? Although the writer should be free to write whatever the writer wants to, I would hate to see you be tagged as a suspicious character. Which may happen if you talk about this with your friends at school or your teachers, etc. Not saying that you shouldn't write it, just be aware even talking about school shootings can set off alarm bells for people.

I don't think you should write this story to "teach people a lesson", but to inform, engage, and entertain.

PS. Queen of Swords. I love that sticky. Permission to print it and stick it on my computer screen when I need to?

maggieuc said:

Have you ever heard of We Need to Talk About Kevin? I've never read it, but it is a published book that was received pretty well by the public, about a boy who brings a gun to school. I think if that book can make it, so can yours.

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We Need to Talk About Kevin is an incredibly thoughtfully-written book with a lot of insights about its controversial subject matter. I think that it was author Lionel Shriver's track record as a serious writer that saved her (yes, she's a woman named Lionel) from charges of trying to exploit a tragic headline-grabbing phenomenon.

Similarly, Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes was received well by readers and critics because of Picoult's track record in writing sensitively about difficult social issues.

However, the reaction of most readers is to suspect that books about school shootings are likely to be cheap exploitation. It's a big challenge to overcome, and it wasn't easy for Picoult and Shriver.

Something to think about, Blue.

Also, what dolores haze said--DO NOT write anything about school shooting while you're on school grounds. Don't talk about it on school grounds. Don't bring a draft of your story to look over in study hall. You'll be saving yourself an enormous amount of hassle.

I'm going to close this thread while everyone steps back and takes a deep breath.

Everyone should remember that they have a choice not to respond to any thread.

I've reopened this thread and am moving it to BWQ.

Do you realise how many folk have been holding their breath, waiting for this moment?

Birol said:

I've reopened this thread and am moving it to BWQ.

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Don't worry about being offensive. Just write a story from beginning to end. make it the best story you can. Then write another one.
Worry about the offensive factor later.
You've got to start taking these ideas and instead of seeking approval first, just writing them.
Just write. Ask some pointed questions along the way if you have them (we all have them!). Keep writing.
Permission from us or anyone else should be the least of your concerns.
Getting a story - any story - on your pages should be your only writerly concern right now.

I'm in the rare position of diasgreeing with you, Stew. I think Blue is right to worry about how people will react to her writing of this story. The current climate around the subject of school shootings is verging on hysteria. There is no telling what the reaction of her peers, family, teachers would be.

Perhaps, Blue, you need to talk to your parents and principal about this. Tell them about the story you want to write. Reassure them that this is a story you want to write, while assuring them that this is not autobiographical, but a work of fiction. In other words - cover your ass.

Good luck!

I agree, D, the content is touchy and I personally wouldn't touch it.

One solution is, of course, simply to write and keep quiet about whatever it is one is writing about, but that seems a totally foreign concept to Blue from what she has so far made apparent.

dolores haze said:

I'm in the rare position of diasgreeing with you, Stew. I think Blue is right to worry about how people will react to her writing of this story. The current climate around the subject of school shootings is verging on hysteria. There is no telling what the reaction of her peers, family, teachers would be.

Perhaps, Blue, you need to talk to your parents and principal about this. Tell them about the story you want to write. Reassure them that this is a story you want to write, while assuring them that this is not autobiographical, but a work of fiction. In other words - cover your ass.

Good luck!

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I see what you mean. I wasn't really approaching the question of Blue getting in trouble for the writing in a school setting.

Would you have sympathy for the boy?

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No.

because I feel it woul teach people a lesson.

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Um, what lesson?

bullying is bad

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You're joking.

When reading that 'so-and so' was teased so they brought an Uzi to class and 'taught everyone a lesson' bores me. That's the 'going postal' scene and switching it to pulling a Harris and Kleebold. They made a horrible history, and since then, they've lots of company. I understand it being a terrifying reality for kids in schools these days but it's 'been there done that' much like any hacker/slasher, yawn, movie that redoes the Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes, etc.

I'm much more interested in how the boy copes with Aspergers. I watch Boston Legal and a character there has it. I know he's an actor but it was enough to get me to look up what the character had and why and how he integrates into society, and the setbacks that happen.

So this AS boy shoots up the school and then turns the gun on himself, or gets killed by a SWAT sniper, or if he lives--goes to prison for life.

What do you want to tell yourself as this is written? Life sucks so don't get teased/ don't be the one who teases/ don't sit back in apathy/ don't make any changes for the better?

Blue, when I read I don't want to be taught a lesson. I think most people feel that way.

Blue, please read "Look Me In The Eye" By John Elder Robison. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307395987/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

John is a member of AW.