Write Right

Sieg,

Your last posting is right on the mark! My intent with this thread was to understand why some writer's find it necessary to describe every nasty piece of action when it comes to sex or violence. I would much rather be able to add the details with my imagination, otherwise, I may as well be reading a porn novel or a police blotter detailing all the details of a crime scene!

Write Right

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Why, oh, why, must I be a writer?

Stating an opinion is one thing. But, can you think for yourself? That is what separates an educated person from an illiterate!

Blood

Quote:

Originally Posted by gate7041 In order to completely convey the horror of that scene I described every action in detail so as to provoke outrage and emotion from the reader....its awful but then evil is awful..

Gate, you achieved your goal. I read the evil post, not the beautiful one, and although I wasn’t outraged it did make me squeamish. But it appears that you have outraged some posters here, though that word might be a bit strong. Lets say you made some assholes pucker.

Sieg comments...

Quote:

this thread is about how much detail you think is wise to put in. It's not a showcase for unedited work. If you want crits or to show off, stick to the crit forums

And so you chose to exemplify your point with writing examples instead of just telling your opinion, not unlike Write Right in his OP, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I get that. No apologies necessary. If you were just showcasing your talent, nothing wrong with that either. Feel free to do so anytime, anywhere you want, as well as anytime the opportunity presents itself. You’re not breaking any rules. Anyone who suggest otherwise is just being fucking ridiculous.

Personally, I did not find it boring. And yes it is your imagination and not the readers that is supposed to be of interest, kind of the point in writing. Otherwise one could just publish outlines. Now that’s and exciting thought.

It depends on the story. Chances are, describing explicit sex is excessive unless you’re writing a XXX novel, in which case it would be the thing to do. Likewise, if your story is attempting to get in the mind of a killer, then recounting the anatomy of a torture session is equally fitting.

Quote:

our detective hero breaks into the zealot's lair (too late, naturally) and discovers a young woman who asphyxiated on her own feces... among splatters of such, tubes, instruments of torture, funnels, etc. Maybe his litanies are scrawled all over this dingy room. Mention rat bites. But you don't have to go into the detail because we'll fill in the blanks just like our detective would--after the fact.

Nothing wrong with this approach either if your writing a detective story. But that is just one way of writing it and even then a one could call in a psychic who gets the exact same flashes of the violence Gate describes as she touches objects -- in bits and pieces.

Keep up the good work Gate!

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"A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice."

Thomas Paine

HarryG

If you write for yourself, as most writers do, then the amount of sex and violence, or the suggestion of either or both, comes naturally.


You wouldn't write something that offends your most important reader (you), so you don't, but you also want to excite your most important reader and keep him interested, you want him to want to turn the page.


There is no real life without sex or violence, every writer will have experienced both, and every writer will record his philosophy differently, and that's all we are, philosophers who write.


If you feel happy with writing: 'When he placed his throbbing cock at the entrance to that impossibly tight arsehole, he didn't think that he would ever get any further', do it.


Or: 'The spurting blood was obscuring my vision, but I kept plunging my knife into his neck until he stopped moving'.


Or: 'I was happy just sitting beside her holding her hand'.


Or: 'He slapped her face gently'.


Or somewhere in between.