Lifestyle: How to Write Tough Topics
How To Write Tough Topics
The biggest challenge in writing fiction in my opinion, is psychological development, and/or psycho-drama of a particular character. It’s very difficult to have a fully developed character that suffers from some type of mental break-down, or illness, or serious emotional damage. You have to understand the complex, and unruly emotional waves of somebody like that, and I think that makes the topic a very difficult one. Also, conditioning AND genetics can play part, so you have to be able to articulate the characters development from a young age, on, and document the life events, experiences, struggles, and genetic make-up that form the mentally ill; if it is behavioral. So, how does one tackle providing readers with a well-developed, emotionally wrought, and/or mentally-ill character? First; to write, you have to understand. If you don’t understand, and you attempt to tackle a topic that you WANT to understand, unless you perform the leg-work, it won’t be authentic. So, my first piece of advice is to really learn and understand the topic you are writing about. If you wanted to introduce a character that is suffering from something like schizophrenia, then you need to put in studying. You need to comprehend the disorder both through literature, and good writing on the topic, and real-world experience. That is why I would suggest sticking with what you know, or have accessible to you, to learn. I think with some types of illnesses, if you haven’t experienced it first hand in either yourself, or somebody close to you, then no amount of book studies will be enough. This I why some writers visit jails, psych wards, and other institutions to really study their topic, and I understand it. For some of us, life has already thrown those things are way, so we don’t have to outwardly SEEK others, for studying.
Some of the tactics I think one should use for difficult topic writing are:
⦁ As noted, visit jails, mental-wards, hospitals, and other institutions. You can also interview prospects, such as parolees, foster children, adoptees, those who work in the health care field, those who study mental illness and, most importantly those who have—or have lived with—somebody who is ill. ⦁ Buy 2-3 notebooks, and separate the material. One notebook for facts, legitimate information, charting necessary studies and notes, anything that is more scientific. The second one should be for free association, and random thoughts. It should be a personal journal, where the author lets all of their thinking, ideas, and random tidbits out. This is done so that the author can try to follow his or her own patterns of thinking, and document the emotional roller-coaster of ups and downs. It helps to write good character development, to understand the psyche, and to really chart progress too. The third, should be for characters only, and this is where I would document conversations, quotes, texts, anything that is inspiring and can be used between characters for dialogue. This notebook will help you to put together the pieces, and to shape your characters through dialogue, and other necessary elements. You should always write down your random thoughts, ideas, quotes and other material for the characters, in this book. ⦁ My third tip is to read books with similar themes. One way to get an idea of how you can shape your character’s mental developments, is through studying books with similar themes. If hypothetically, your character has a personality disorder, read fiction AND non-fiction on the topic. Seek out fictional works, for the hard-to-write randoms. Quirks, pathologies, idiosyncrasies that can be hard to define—there are so many great writers, study some of them and learn how to write better characters, with more complex themes. Look into non-fiction by renowned professors, and even the DSM-V which is a manual filed with information on mental and emotional disorders. These tactics WORK. ⦁ If you can, and have one singular subject--a person who has dedicate their time and story, for you to use as a sort of 'muse,' form a good and solid working relationship. Plan to take a good chunk of time, months and even years sometimes, to get everything you can from this individual. Here, you will interview, study and write about the subject. The subject will be used as the main source of inspiration, as you chart their life, stories, moods, and everything else that can be of use.
While tackling all of this, may seem long, tedious and difficult, the better character development, the better the novel (of course), and often it IS the characters and those little details, that makes something truly worthwhile and unforgettable. You may need 4-5 years to pen a truly remarkable work, and should take as long as you need. It is not a race or contest, and my advice is to document EVERYTHING. You never know when a conversation, a piece of writing, a quote from a movie, a scene, a chapter—is going to inspire you to do something extraordinary. Be prepared. And, work hard.
