Feeling better.....

She's not replied to my last comment but I've posted some 'Final Thoughts' on leaving the class.
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Thanks for the various feedback you've all given me - it's been interesting and thought-provoking.

It concerned me that you feel that to write those specific scenes was pathological. I discussed it with a friend of mine who is a children's author and one of the points he made is that history can be ugly and sometimes it's necessary to reflect that.

The scenes I have written are set in the correct era and based on contemporary accounts. These scenes are not set in the present nor the future and I believe that to write about this subject and not reflect what actually happened does a great disservice to the thousands of people who were subjected to it.

I am not talking here about whether an individual wishes to read about this, or indeed any other subject. This is purely a statement on writing about it.

Would you feel the same if my story was set in the concentration camps of World War II, or indeed The Killing Fields in Cambodia (see Lesson 3).

I don't know if you'll be able to come back here to read this, but I felt I needed to say it.

Thanks for your time
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She may not come back to read it, or post a response, but I feel better!!

Discouraged...

Someone told me I was mentally disturbed yesterday. Or at least implied it.

I'm doing a course on Historical Fiction and had written briefly in one of my assignments that there was some torture in the Prologue of my novel. I feel this is completely justified because Rachel is accused of witchcraft therefore she is subjected to some of the tests they used at the time - ducking, sleep deprivation, use of a witch-pricker to see if there was an area of her body that did not feel pain or bleed.

The person posted in her first feedback that she would never read a book again with torture in it, which is completely understandable. She said she wanted the books she reads to be heart-warming and uplifting, and I can totally understand that. She also said that they should be inspiring. I replied back saying I agreed but I felt that or a book to be inspiring then the protagonist needs to work through various trials and tribulations and come through the other side.

I said that I hoped my book would have an inspiring ending but the Prologue wouldn't as it ends with Rachel's death. I gave a very brief description of the things Rachel would go through first and asked if (but only if she felt able to) she would give me her feelings on whether the actions were too disturbing, but not a problem if she would rather not read it.

I think it's a valid thing to know if what I write disturbs people because I don't want that to happen, but I don't want to disturb someone in the process.

She replied back that she wouldn't read it (fair enough) and that she felt that to put stuff like that out there was pathological. I checked the definition on Dictionary.com and it says:

Pathological - caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition

I've posted back that I didn't feel that I was mentally disturbed but not had a reply yet.

I know she's completely entitled to her point of view, and not everybody wants to read that type of thing, or gory murders, or soppy romances. I don't think some of the people in my church would be that impressed that the book I'm writing has ghosts and witchcraft in it.

I'm surprised how much it actually upset me that she said that. I don't have a problem with someone saying they don't like my style, my ability, or the subject matter.

But to say I was mentally disturbed for writing about it felt hurtful. I even cried, which is pathetic.

I'd better get used to it, I guess. Time to start growing a thicker skin.