Perception/opinion

I write for enjoyment, although I have no doubt that things repressed or buried deep from the past find their way into my writing in different ways.

SimonDoom said:

I write for enjoyment, although I have no doubt that things repressed or buried deep from the past find their way into my writing in different ways.

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I can't say I didn't enjoy writing My Fall and Rise, I felt a sense of satisfaction as I finished each chapter, and pride when I received an unexpectedly positive response. But it wasn't fun.

Now, as I try my hand at fiction, I find the creative process much more enjoyable, but not quite as fulfilling. It's a fair trade off.

BiscuitHammer said:

A question for the dedicated and long-term members of the community, and wondering from an author's point of view.

Quite a few people on here write for enjoyment. Other write for catharsis, and a few (hopefully only a few) write as a means of dealing with personal traumas. Rape, abuse, what have you.

The stories these people post are often very raw and visceral, the subject matter ugly. But it's important to them, in their search for healing or closure.

I'm not talking about quality of writiing in asking this question, I'm asking how these stories and their authors tend to be received here on Lit. Not by casual readers or the legions of bum-sniffing trolls who infest our realm, but do you think these people generally are greeted with support or censure?

Granted, some stories might be too horrific to publish, but the ones that DO make it in- are they quickly submerged in a wave of negativity, or do they receive support?

I'm more idly curious than anything. I have a friend who survived horrible abuse and turns to writing. I was wondering if people here thought Lit was a good venue for her.

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There's lots of good & bad stories on this site. Depends on how one sees it. It's not very common to see good constructive criticism, and some indeed get lost in the negativity forever in never never land. What consistently surprises me, yet it doesn't, is when comments truly don't realize fiction and REALLY believe it. Or maybe some small portion somehow thinking it's specifically coded just for them and them only. LOL!

In the respect of when a fictionalized portion is truly believed, I'd say the author has accomplished his/her goal beyond his/her expectation. And the grammar nazis? Really?They don't realize intentional misspellings are relevant to characters within the story?

As for your friend, then only she can decide that for herself, BH. Your concern is admirable.

MelissaBaby said:

I can't say I didn't enjoy writing My Fall and Rise, I felt a sense of satisfaction as I finished each chapter, and pride when I received an unexpectedly positive response. But it wasn't fun.

Now, as I try my hand at fiction, I find the creative process much more enjoyable, but not quite as fulfilling. It's a fair trade off.

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I'm new at it.

Whenever I write, I've discovered the creative process is a much more unintended but wonderful experience as it's happening. I get lost in it. When there's just enough truth, it's far more enjoyable - the key for me is to find a way blend it in.
It it's totally fictitious, I can't do it as well. I want to be in the reader's head somehow.

It's a que I take from Stephen King. I love King's stuff because he somehow manages to get into my head and I'm like - yeah, I'm really like this sometimes.

............

Captainnumnuts said:

And the grammar nazis? Really?They don't realize intentional misspellings are relevant to characters within the story?

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Be careful accusing them If a good story is well written and the misspellings are intentional, you won`t see them commenting because they realize they`re intentional. The ones who do ... they`re not Grammar Nazis, just people who like to nitpick. Being a sort-of Grammar Nazi myself, I even helped out how to write a drunken dialogue with misspellings

Captainnumnuts said:

It's a que I take from Stephen King. I love King's stuff because he somehow manages to get into my head and I'm like - yeah, I'm really like this sometimes.

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Oh, boy, another King-fan Brace yourself for the people here who have managed taking apart his novels
(Me? I`m an avid King-reader, love his work, hoping to become half as good as his good works and lots better than his bad stuff.)

Gentleman_G said:

Being a sort-of Grammar Nazi myself, I even helped out how to write a drunken dialogue with misspellings

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I had someone who knew their stuff comment on a particular word choice in one of my stories that was deliberate (and deliberated on), but that looked like a possible mistake.

I wanted it there; it was an artistic choice to use the incorrect word to imply a different meaning in context. But I appreciated it being pointed out. If someone nitpicks your story, they read every word.

But I know not everyone appreciates a loving editorial comment.

Gentleman_G said:

Be careful accusing them If a good story is well written and the misspellings are intentional, you won`t see them commenting because they realize they`re intentional. The ones who do ... they`re not Grammar Nazis, just people who like to nitpick. Being a sort-of Grammar Nazi myself, I even helped out how to write a drunken dialogue with misspellings

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Oh? A 1,000 pardons if I've offended anyone. Being on a public forum, I tend to forget how some things are interpreted. Even when specifically addressing a singular person within the conversation. My hopes being the singular person will pick up on whatever it is I'm trying to relay to them. If I haven't written the story or stories, how can one possibly 'nitpick' it before being dedicated for presentation in an editorial sense? Though I do tend to write in a drunken dialogue w/out slurring my words. Even so, the writer does indeed have the choice of accepting or not accepting constructive criticism. That would be something between the editor and the writer. Thanks for pointing it out.

Gentleman_G said:

Oh, boy, another King-fan Brace yourself for the people here who have managed taking apart his novels
(Me? I`m an avid King-reader, love his work, hoping to become half as good as his good works and lots better than his bad stuff.)

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Perhaps I should have said cue or queue and whatever I posted would have been interpreted differently? Always a pleasure to meet another Richard Bachman fan. I tend not to take apart King novels. Often, it's so hard not to. Maybe his writing style gets into my head differently than it does others? Each writer has his/her own unique style. A signature (not literally) of sorts that can't possibly be duplicated consistently in it's original sense.

Hopefully, we'll meet again and enlighten each other another time. If you'll excuse me, I'm off to read an Anne Rice or Mark Greaney (Clancy's dead) novel. I like taking cues from them as well.

Captainnumnuts said:

Oh? A 1,000 pardons if I've offended anyone.

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No offense taken, which is shown by the fat smiley laughing at you

Captainnumnuts said:

Perhaps I should have said cue or queue and whatever I posted would have been interpreted differently? Always a pleasure to meet another Richard Bachman fan. I tend not to take apart King novels. Often, it's so hard not to. Maybe his writing style gets into my head differently than it does others? Each writer has his/her own unique style. A signature (not literally) of sorts that can't possibly be duplicated consistently in it's original sense.

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No sweat, everyone makes mistakes, but usually people understand what you`re trying to say so long you`re not making it too obscure And if not, well, we`ll just take The Long Walk.
And yes, I fully agree that every writer has a particular signature in whatever (s)he writes. Which is why I like to read other works from a particular author if I like one.

Gentleman_G said:

No offense taken, which is shown by the fat smiley laughing at you



No sweat, everyone makes mistakes, but usually people understand what you`re trying to say so long you`re not making it too obscure And if not, well, we`ll just take The Long Walk.
And yes, I fully agree that every writer has a particular signature in whatever (s)he writes. Which is why I like to read other works from a particular author if I like one.

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As to the original topic, writing as therapy. I have written wounded characters. Despite what my readers may have thought, those characters are not me. In order to tell the truth, I must cloak it in fiction. There's always a grain of truth there, and when I have opened up and been real-life honest about what was true and what was not, I was hurt by the responses. Perhaps someone didn't care about the actual truth and only what they imagined was true. They rejected my truth in favor of their own. So I learned, what readers think has nothing to do with me or my words; their opinions reflect only themselves.

I tried once to write a real, autobiographical story. I changed details to make it fiction. But it was still too real and too close to the truth, so I abandoned it. It gives me the willies to even think about.

To tell the truth, I have to make it a lie.

But in weaving those tales I have dealt with the ghosts that haunted me. those details no longer have me in their grip and I have been able to move on.

carsonshepherd said:

As to the original topic, writing as therapy. I have written wounded characters. Despite what my readers may have thought, those characters are not me. In order to tell the truth, I must cloak it in fiction. There's always a grain of truth there, and when I have opened up and been real-life honest about what was true and what was not, I was hurt by the responses. Perhaps someone didn't care about the actual truth and only what they imagined was true. They rejected my truth in favor of their own. So I learned, what readers think has nothing to do with me or my words; their opinions reflect only themselves.

I tried once to write a real, autobiographical story. I changed details to make it fiction. But it was still too real and too close to the truth, so I abandoned it. It gives me the willies to even think about.

To tell the truth, I have to make it a lie.

But in weaving those tales I have dealt with the ghosts that haunted me. those details no longer have me in their grip and I have been able to move on.

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Wounded characters make for the most compelling ones, in my opinion. If they are well-written and realistic, people love them.
But I agree, writing fully autobiographical tends to hit too close to home and I never manage to do so because it hurts. Taking parts of it and incorporating them into a character and letting it play out the way I would have liked to end up, that's what helps. And people apparently love that too.
It it gets too realistic and the hurt is too much, people cannot imagine it being fiction anymore and reading it does not enjoy anymore, so they tend to dislike it. So you need to find a delicate balance in doing so.

Gentleman_G said:

But I agree, writing fully autobiographical tends to hit too close to home and I never manage to do so because it hurts. Taking parts of it and incorporating them into a character and letting it play out the way I would have liked to end up, that's what helps. And people apparently love that too.

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I've got my life heart-break story here which has been read to the end by a loyal group of readers - not many comments but the last two chapters have some of my highest scores, which is nice - people obviously appreciated how I wrote it. I had to wait decades before I could write it.