David Edward's Blog - Posts Tagged "violence"
Violence in Stories
I watched The Suicide Squad last night on HBO. Didn’t like it. I couldn’t figure out why, then realized it was the level of violence. Now, that’s pretty hypocritical, I thought. Why would it start bothering me now? I have seen a lot of violent movies, and some of them are my all-time favorites.
Then I realized I wasn’t bothered, I was bored. The violence didn’t move the story forward, it was just there. One of my favorite movies is Dredd from 2012 with Karl Urban. That movie is just as violent as The Suicide Squad. But, at least to me, the violence progressed the plot in Dredd, but not in The Suicide Squad.
Uh oh, I thought.
The book I’m working on, Panama Red, it’s got a solid R level of violence.
Is it all necessary?
I’m going back through now, making sure that any time something violent happens, it happens as part of the story. I was okay in my quick review of draft #3. There was one section that had a fight that didn’t really move anything forward or build a character.
Just reworked it.
Panama Red: A Dirk Lasher Thriller
Then I realized I wasn’t bothered, I was bored. The violence didn’t move the story forward, it was just there. One of my favorite movies is Dredd from 2012 with Karl Urban. That movie is just as violent as The Suicide Squad. But, at least to me, the violence progressed the plot in Dredd, but not in The Suicide Squad.
Uh oh, I thought.
The book I’m working on, Panama Red, it’s got a solid R level of violence.
Is it all necessary?
I’m going back through now, making sure that any time something violent happens, it happens as part of the story. I was okay in my quick review of draft #3. There was one section that had a fight that didn’t really move anything forward or build a character.
Just reworked it.
Panama Red: A Dirk Lasher Thriller
