Vicarious Trauma: A Danger Writers Need to Be Aware of

By Bonnie Randall

Part of the How They Do It Series (Monthly Contributor)

Acclaimed YA author Chris Crutcher said “Once a thing is known, it can’t be unknown.”

As a writer, and as a social worker, I tend to be exposed to, and research, a variety of extraordinarily dark topics. It is the nature of my job to know these things, and the genre of fiction I craft frequently dives into forbidden, life-altering places.

Very early in my career, when I was still paying my dues as a child protection investigator, I recall becoming defensive when a member of Joe Public sneered about CPS workers, calling them ‘brain-dead’ and ‘useless’. My rebuttal was fierce: “You have no idea what these workers are exposed to,” I fired back. “Most people only ever hear about kiddie porn. We’re forced to see it.”

Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com