( continued from part II )
This has been a long time coming, mostly because I wrote the intended post but locked it while I reflected on whether I wanted to make it public, after all -- and then, eventually, forgot about it, as I got distracted by other projects. I was reminded again by several synchronicities: one, coming across the RPG-forum complaint about the post, while searching for something unrelated, two, having it linked (again, I thought?) in LJ's little_details comm (hi, folks!); three, a recent novel that had sounded promising but ended up being an DNF thanks to the author's ignorance of human nature.
The bulk of this post can be summed up in this simple statement: if you're totally convinced the best route to pile on a character's angst is by giving them an abusive-family background, I've got a few bones to pick with you.
( A few notes about the reality. )
( 1. Do not force the backstory to come out for the sake of story. )
( 2. Remember this above all else: no one is *proud* of being a victim. )
( 3. Stop taking the goddamned easy way out. )
( 4. Go read rachelmanjia's posts on PTSD. Process, ponder, read, repeat. )
( 5. Abuse your character, then be prepared to write the hyper-vigilance. )
...more coming in a day or two.
This has been a long time coming, mostly because I wrote the intended post but locked it while I reflected on whether I wanted to make it public, after all -- and then, eventually, forgot about it, as I got distracted by other projects. I was reminded again by several synchronicities: one, coming across the RPG-forum complaint about the post, while searching for something unrelated, two, having it linked (again, I thought?) in LJ's little_details comm (hi, folks!); three, a recent novel that had sounded promising but ended up being an DNF thanks to the author's ignorance of human nature.
The bulk of this post can be summed up in this simple statement: if you're totally convinced the best route to pile on a character's angst is by giving them an abusive-family background, I've got a few bones to pick with you.
( A few notes about the reality. )
( 1. Do not force the backstory to come out for the sake of story. )
( 2. Remember this above all else: no one is *proud* of being a victim. )
( 3. Stop taking the goddamned easy way out. )
( 4. Go read rachelmanjia's posts on PTSD. Process, ponder, read, repeat. )
( 5. Abuse your character, then be prepared to write the hyper-vigilance. )
...more coming in a day or two.