Show Posts
1
Writing Group / Difficult writing challenge: Guilt/Shame.
« on: March 20, 2009, 12:14:53 AM »
Okay, so first time poster disclaimer: please tell me if I'm being an idiot about any protocols on this forum that I might not know about and I'll do my best to fix it.
=====
I find myself facing a difficult proposition as a writer. I'm trying to write a story that I feel very passionate about, but I'm stuck on a part and having great difficulty getting myself into the proper mindset to tackle it. I wouldn't call it writer's block, because I classify writer's block as "the words just aren't coming." That's not really the case here. Instead, it's a matter of having great difficulty going back to a place that, mentally, I REALLY don't like to be in. However, it is absolutely vital to my tale that I write this part of the story; the character will not be believable without the knowledge of said included events.
Okay, so enough dancing around the matter. The core of the issue is a scene, or short series of scenes, in which my main character, because of actions he has taken, is for lack of a better term "shamed" by the entirety of his community. He does deserve it, for the most part, and it ends up being a very important character-building experience for him; something that leads him to come to certain conclusions that make him the character I like so much. The tale then calls for him, after his community takes the act too far, to stand up for himself.
But the difficulty is this: of all the emotional states that humans can experience, the emotion of shame is easily and always the hardest to face (or at least I believe so). Guilt and self-loathing are meant to be the fires that shape the character's conviction, resulting in the end in a very observant, philosophically-minded paladin-like character who is driven by a strong desire to do good based off of his personal knowledge and experience of the darkest of human natures. However, the act of writing about his punishment, of putting myself in a mental state of guilt, shame, and submission, is very difficult and uncomfortable for me to do.
Any advice/thoughts/ideas/observations/comments?
Honestly, anything at all would be helpful.
=====
I find myself facing a difficult proposition as a writer. I'm trying to write a story that I feel very passionate about, but I'm stuck on a part and having great difficulty getting myself into the proper mindset to tackle it. I wouldn't call it writer's block, because I classify writer's block as "the words just aren't coming." That's not really the case here. Instead, it's a matter of having great difficulty going back to a place that, mentally, I REALLY don't like to be in. However, it is absolutely vital to my tale that I write this part of the story; the character will not be believable without the knowledge of said included events.
Okay, so enough dancing around the matter. The core of the issue is a scene, or short series of scenes, in which my main character, because of actions he has taken, is for lack of a better term "shamed" by the entirety of his community. He does deserve it, for the most part, and it ends up being a very important character-building experience for him; something that leads him to come to certain conclusions that make him the character I like so much. The tale then calls for him, after his community takes the act too far, to stand up for himself.
But the difficulty is this: of all the emotional states that humans can experience, the emotion of shame is easily and always the hardest to face (or at least I believe so). Guilt and self-loathing are meant to be the fires that shape the character's conviction, resulting in the end in a very observant, philosophically-minded paladin-like character who is driven by a strong desire to do good based off of his personal knowledge and experience of the darkest of human natures. However, the act of writing about his punishment, of putting myself in a mental state of guilt, shame, and submission, is very difficult and uncomfortable for me to do.
Any advice/thoughts/ideas/observations/comments?
Honestly, anything at all would be helpful.