Karen GoatKeeper's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-about-bullying"
Dealing With Bullying
I raise dairy goats and chickens. Both have pecking orders. This makes sense for them in terms of their wild ancestry.
Living wild is a matter of finding and keeping enough food to survive. Sharing is a ticket to starvation. Bullying, being high on the pecking order, is the means used.
People are hardwired for bullying. Except we no longer need to bully others to have enough to eat or survive in much of the world. The consequences of allowing bullying are now higher than the rewards so society wants to discourage it.
Why this interest in bullying? It is an underlying theme for the books in my Hazel Whitmore series. Two of the books are published - "Broken Promises" and "Old Promises." I want to complete the third book - "Mistaken Promises."
People become bullies for many reasons. Some like the sense of power it gives them. Some are copying their parents. Some have underlying problems or beliefs that trigger it.
The reason for the bullying is very important for the writer. It determines who the character is, how the character will behave, what the character will be willing to do, how determined the character is and the final outcome for the character. The reasons for the bullying were not known to me so the book languished, waiting.
Now I know the reasons. "Mistaken Promises" will be finished and published this fall.
Living wild is a matter of finding and keeping enough food to survive. Sharing is a ticket to starvation. Bullying, being high on the pecking order, is the means used.
People are hardwired for bullying. Except we no longer need to bully others to have enough to eat or survive in much of the world. The consequences of allowing bullying are now higher than the rewards so society wants to discourage it.
Why this interest in bullying? It is an underlying theme for the books in my Hazel Whitmore series. Two of the books are published - "Broken Promises" and "Old Promises." I want to complete the third book - "Mistaken Promises."
People become bullies for many reasons. Some like the sense of power it gives them. Some are copying their parents. Some have underlying problems or beliefs that trigger it.
The reason for the bullying is very important for the writer. It determines who the character is, how the character will behave, what the character will be willing to do, how determined the character is and the final outcome for the character. The reasons for the bullying were not known to me so the book languished, waiting.
Now I know the reasons. "Mistaken Promises" will be finished and published this fall.
