Leaderboard

I'm now legally old enough to drink; although I'll never want to.

So, a few months ago, while I was looking to write a realistic, yet also respectful, rape scene for one of the stories I’m working on, I did research (...as any normal person would have ‘rape’ in their search files... I swear, Officer, I’m not trying to find ways to not get caught... Okay, you don’t have to taze me-)... Anyway, while doing so, I came across a number (a fairly large portion of the search results, actually) on how rape in literature was merely a lazy man’s tool. Most of them stated that, using rape in literature was a sure sign that the writer in question was lazy and relying on the ‘shock’ value of the rape to keep people interested in the novel. (As a disclaimer, many of them seemed to use Game of Thrones as their example of why and how this is,,, I understand the reasoning behind this, but, seriously, if you’re just using GoT, I’m not sure how valid the argument can be made...) Obviously, rape is not something to condone or glorify, but that hardly disqualifies it as a ‘lazy writer’s tool’, in my opinion. There are many ways that rape can be used (excuse how this will come out) to great extent in advancing a character, characterization, or even the scenario without the gratuitous amounts of consistent and, my opinion, eventually boring scenes... Thus, my question is, what are your thoughts on rape in stories and, indeed, in what you read?

** This Story has be PULLED ** (Mods: feel free to burn this thread) Author: Clover Reef Title: Cold Snap Summary: A lifetime of bad experiences has left Idal homeless and wary of shelters. It’s hard to survive when the temperature plummets, but this winter he has more to worry about than just the cold. Something big and hungry is hunting the city streets at night. Every morning the body count rises, and whatever it is, it has him in its sights. Feedback: Absolutely! Fandom: Original Warnings: Anal Fet MiCD MM Oral Rape Rim SH Violence WIP

as an example, this could be something she might say. “HOLY OVULATING OVARIES I WANT HIS BABIES” then a few seconds pass and she realizes what she just said.

Rape is part of human behaviour so it certainly can have a legitimate role in stories. It happens in wars, on the streets, in intimidation, in business, and in families. To deny it is to restrict to only one side of humanity. Rape is more than plot, it can simply be a person’s character, if they’re isolated with another in a vulnerable situation….or, coping with a character’s past (ie, the victim). And how the story’s society responds to the victim/perp, that can illustrate the world.

Maybe hook is the wrong way to describe how I approach it, more like glue. I generally want my first sentence, first paragraph, to have some traction on the reader’s attention, to pull them into the story. I figure that I’ve got a thousand pages to describe the growth of tree rings in intricate detail, so I can spread it out throughout the story.

Posting a brand new story feels kinda like flashing strangers. You kinda feel exhilarated, kinda insecure, hoping your boobs aren’t lopsided, you spend the whole time trying to glean approval from their reactions, and at the same time reaaaallly wanna put your top back on… Or is it just me?