Rachael Eyre's Blog - Posts Tagged "taking-risks"
Taking risks with your writing
There's been an interesting discussion over the past few weeks on the Author's Forum. Does taking risks with your work pay off, or does it only alienate would be readers?
Naturally, "risk" is in the eye of the beholder. What may be an acceptable level of profanity to one reader may outrage somebody else; one generation's hardcore pornography might be another's sweet romantic fluff. The sexiest thing that happens in The Well of Loneliness is Stephen kissing her first girlfriend "full on the lips as a lover" - hardly enough to warrant an obscenity trial! And values shift dramatically from one nation to the next: while Americans protest at sixteen year olds having sex, Brits blanch at gun ownership.
If you didn't set out to break taboos, it can be frustrating defending your writing against accusations of lawlessness. Though possibly some authors thrive on the notoriety; I wouldn't know.
Here's a quick rundown of dicy areas that may affect the reception of your novel. It's worth researching your chosen genre to clarify your position.
Homosexuality
As an out and proud writer, I wish this wasn't the case. You'd think that now we had equal rights in many parts of the world, we'd be almost respectable. Unfortunately the reception of some of my work has forcibly reminded me this isn't so. Nothing seems to offend certain readers more than discovering that a book they assumed was straight has lashings of gay.
You can't win. Despite The Governess being clearly encoded as a pink book, with 'Lesbian' as its primary tag on Amazon, some readers have managed to miss it, and they're very vocal in their displeasure. To avoid vitriolic homophobic reviews, make sure your blurbs spell it out. It'll save a lot of heartache and teeth gnashing.
Violence
Violence in books is divisive, and quite rightly. While there's an age rating on a film, letting you know what level of gore to expect, there's no corresponding warning on novels. If anything, it can be worse than the equivalent scene in a movie: while you're fully aware these characters are played by actors and their wounds are achieved by special effects, you haven't that sop when characters in a book are maimed or killed.
Being of a squeamish disposition, I avoid genres where there's likely to be strong violence, particularly against women and children. I hate the way violence against women has become fetishised. It's agreed that rape and sexual abuse are monstrous evils, so why do we have to see them graphically represented?
Cruelty to animals
Somehow, somewhere, the idea that violence against animals "doesn't count" or can even be funny has taken shape. 'Want to show your budding sociopath's depravity?' an unknown writer's tool kit seems to have asked. 'Show him chucking puppies in the river!'
It's rare for me to discard books, but I couldn't finish Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory. Eighty pages of the narrator torturing and blowing up animals was more than enough. I love animals and can't stand to see even imaginary ones suffer. Before anyone accuses me of being soppy, my partner's dad had the exact same reaction.
Taboo relationships
Sexual attraction, we can all agree, is a many coloured kaleidoscope, but there are certain areas that should be left well alone. Unless you wish to grossly offend your readers, don't attempt to show a sexual relationship between an adult and a child in a positive light, or one between close relations. These taboos are in place for a reason. The notion propagated by old romances that women invariably fall in love with their rapists is unacceptable in a modern piece.
Other types of relationship are down to personal preference. There is nothing wrong with a twenty year old man in love with a forty year old woman, or vice versa, but society has plenty to say about such matches, especially the latter. Think about Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester - few fathers in law would see a forty-something with a previous marriage and an illegitimate daughter as an appropriate husband for their nineteen year old!
The societal prejudices and pressures against these relationships are likely to pose a major plot point. If this is the central love story in your novel, make it clear that the connection between your couple is so strong, other concerns are secondary.
Racism, sexism and the rest
There are some views that should have gone out with the Ark, but, sadly, look like they'll be with us for a good while yet. Even unintentional blunders risk alienating readers: think of James Bond's attitudes towards women, prevalent then but atrocious now, or mindless racist stereotypes. I was horrified by a recent book, a prize winner no less, that uses the phrase "yellow devil" in all seriousness.
Read your book as though you're a complete stranger. Is there any reason why most of the ethnic minorities in the story are criminals? Don't assume that because a woman looks a particular way, she's "easy" (and surely what other people do with their bodies is their business?) Don't make sweeping generalisations about other faiths because that's all you remember from tabloid news and TV shows.
Black comedy
When you're writing humour, the best advice is to keep it reasonably clean. You may have the world's greatest collection of sex jokes, but the reader doesn't know you; blurting out a filthy joke after only a short acquaintance is like swearing at the vicar. You may be applauded in your inner circle for risqué wit, but you can guarantee that many more will find gags about bestiality, necrophilia and paedophilia distasteful in the extreme. If you have any doubts, leave it out.
Naturally, "risk" is in the eye of the beholder. What may be an acceptable level of profanity to one reader may outrage somebody else; one generation's hardcore pornography might be another's sweet romantic fluff. The sexiest thing that happens in The Well of Loneliness is Stephen kissing her first girlfriend "full on the lips as a lover" - hardly enough to warrant an obscenity trial! And values shift dramatically from one nation to the next: while Americans protest at sixteen year olds having sex, Brits blanch at gun ownership.
If you didn't set out to break taboos, it can be frustrating defending your writing against accusations of lawlessness. Though possibly some authors thrive on the notoriety; I wouldn't know.
Here's a quick rundown of dicy areas that may affect the reception of your novel. It's worth researching your chosen genre to clarify your position.
Homosexuality
As an out and proud writer, I wish this wasn't the case. You'd think that now we had equal rights in many parts of the world, we'd be almost respectable. Unfortunately the reception of some of my work has forcibly reminded me this isn't so. Nothing seems to offend certain readers more than discovering that a book they assumed was straight has lashings of gay.
You can't win. Despite The Governess being clearly encoded as a pink book, with 'Lesbian' as its primary tag on Amazon, some readers have managed to miss it, and they're very vocal in their displeasure. To avoid vitriolic homophobic reviews, make sure your blurbs spell it out. It'll save a lot of heartache and teeth gnashing.
Violence
Violence in books is divisive, and quite rightly. While there's an age rating on a film, letting you know what level of gore to expect, there's no corresponding warning on novels. If anything, it can be worse than the equivalent scene in a movie: while you're fully aware these characters are played by actors and their wounds are achieved by special effects, you haven't that sop when characters in a book are maimed or killed.
Being of a squeamish disposition, I avoid genres where there's likely to be strong violence, particularly against women and children. I hate the way violence against women has become fetishised. It's agreed that rape and sexual abuse are monstrous evils, so why do we have to see them graphically represented?
Cruelty to animals
Somehow, somewhere, the idea that violence against animals "doesn't count" or can even be funny has taken shape. 'Want to show your budding sociopath's depravity?' an unknown writer's tool kit seems to have asked. 'Show him chucking puppies in the river!'
It's rare for me to discard books, but I couldn't finish Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory. Eighty pages of the narrator torturing and blowing up animals was more than enough. I love animals and can't stand to see even imaginary ones suffer. Before anyone accuses me of being soppy, my partner's dad had the exact same reaction.
Taboo relationships
Sexual attraction, we can all agree, is a many coloured kaleidoscope, but there are certain areas that should be left well alone. Unless you wish to grossly offend your readers, don't attempt to show a sexual relationship between an adult and a child in a positive light, or one between close relations. These taboos are in place for a reason. The notion propagated by old romances that women invariably fall in love with their rapists is unacceptable in a modern piece.
Other types of relationship are down to personal preference. There is nothing wrong with a twenty year old man in love with a forty year old woman, or vice versa, but society has plenty to say about such matches, especially the latter. Think about Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester - few fathers in law would see a forty-something with a previous marriage and an illegitimate daughter as an appropriate husband for their nineteen year old!
The societal prejudices and pressures against these relationships are likely to pose a major plot point. If this is the central love story in your novel, make it clear that the connection between your couple is so strong, other concerns are secondary.
Racism, sexism and the rest
There are some views that should have gone out with the Ark, but, sadly, look like they'll be with us for a good while yet. Even unintentional blunders risk alienating readers: think of James Bond's attitudes towards women, prevalent then but atrocious now, or mindless racist stereotypes. I was horrified by a recent book, a prize winner no less, that uses the phrase "yellow devil" in all seriousness.
Read your book as though you're a complete stranger. Is there any reason why most of the ethnic minorities in the story are criminals? Don't assume that because a woman looks a particular way, she's "easy" (and surely what other people do with their bodies is their business?) Don't make sweeping generalisations about other faiths because that's all you remember from tabloid news and TV shows.
Black comedy
When you're writing humour, the best advice is to keep it reasonably clean. You may have the world's greatest collection of sex jokes, but the reader doesn't know you; blurting out a filthy joke after only a short acquaintance is like swearing at the vicar. You may be applauded in your inner circle for risqué wit, but you can guarantee that many more will find gags about bestiality, necrophilia and paedophilia distasteful in the extreme. If you have any doubts, leave it out.
