Robyn - a plate of spaghetti

"Robyn" is about psychotic child abuse. When I say that, I am using a narrow definition referring to actions adults take with children that fulfill a need the adult has at the expense of the child. The vilest child abuse happens when an adult uses a child for his sexual needs. The perpetrator is usually a trusted family member or friend. It could be an uncle, father, priest, coach, etc. These abusers have many victims who might have relationships with each other and which could extend for more than one generation. The perpetrator is often a person whose public persona is widely respected. When one tries to depict this in a novel, it defies a straight line story. It is as convoluted and tangled as a plate of spaghetti. You can never adequately describe a plate of spaghetti with words because much of the tangled mess is unseen. If you pull each strand out and lay it beside the plate, you could tell its diameter, length, color, etc., but in the end, you would have gotten far afield from the goal of describing the plate of spaghetti.

I first wrote Robyn in the 1990s as a straight-line story where the character, Robyn, begins a search of her family’s secrets. The search had the effect of dragging each strand of spaghetti out for examination. It didn’t work. I set the book aside while I wrote and published five other books. I have picked it up now to rewrite it. Hopefully, with more experience under my belt I will be able to the justice to the subject. For the past nine months, I have tried to find a different approach. After several fits and starts, one that went through three chapters before smashing into a barrier, I have given up.

I have a new idea. Instead describing the problem, I shall attempt to probe the plate to get an essence and feel of it. The story will look at bits and pieces through many eyes, but I will let the character, Robyn, hold it together. I have completed the first draft. It feels like a framework that can tell the story.