Everyday Canvas

Depiction of Violence and Keeping Calm

For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" 

Prompt: What do you think of the graphic depictions of violence in books, and is the threat or anticipation of violence in a story much more effective and frightening than any graphic depiction of it?

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I don’t care if the genre is horror or murder-mystery. I think there is no need for graphic depictions of violence anywhere in a book or in a movie for the simple reason that they shouldn’t serve as “how-to”s for the sick minds.

Elongating the moments and filling the readers with anticipation of some cruelty or something sinister would work better. The more skilled authors like Dean Kuntz do this to perfection.

Now, read this excerpt, which is a bit long for an excerpt, but I had to take the whole thing to make a point. Here the character is reacting to a shadow while under the influence of a nightmare. See how the author is elongating the moments to fill the reader with anticipatory terror.

“She was probably still spooked from the dream that awakened her after midnight, the same one she'd had on a few other recent nights. The man made of dead, rotting leaves, a nightmare figure. Whirling, raging.

Then her gaze dropped to her elongated shadow, which stretched across the close-cropped grass, draped the curb, and folded onto the cracked concrete pavement. Inexplicably, her uneasiness swelled into alarm.

She took one step backward, then a second, and of course her shadow moved with her. Only as she retreated a third step did she realize that this very silhouette was what frightened her.

Ridiculous. More absurd than her dream. Yet something in her shadow was not right: a jagged distortion, a menacing quality.

Her heart knocked as hard as a fist on a door.

In the severe angle of the morning sun, the houses and trees cast distorted images, too, but she saw nothing fearsome in their stretched and buckled shadows--only in her own.

She recognized the absurdity of her fear, but this awareness did not diminish her anxiety. Terror courted her, and she stood hand in hand with panic.

The shadow seemed to throb with the thick slow beat of its own heart. Staring at it, she was overcome with dread.

Martie closed her eyes and tried to get control of herself.”

From False Memory by Dean Kuntz.

For: "Space Blog" 
Prompt: From SusanFarmer ’s "In the Midst of Tumult" 
"Choosing a stillness moment even as everything around us convulses."
Everything around us is definitely convulsing with riots, COVID-19, the election, and soon, the holidays. What do you do to calm the insanity?

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It isn’t what happens in the world but it is our reaction to it. Keeping a cool head in times of trouble isn’t easy, but one can do it if one is already prepared for it.

As for me, a few decades ago, I learned meditation. It took a long time to really make it a habit, a habit that shows up on its own in times of trouble. It seemed frivolous to do this in those days, but I am happy I attempted it because now, the meditation thing comes to me automatically whenever something fearful or disturbing happens. Once one learns the technique, one can adapt it to his or her liking. One can, for example, incorporate the name of a Saint or God into it or let the meditative words stay as they are.

What would have happened if I didn't know about and hadn’t learned meditation? Then, I would have to go with keeping myself busy and creating jobs to do and reading a lot, which is I always do anyway. Keeping busy has its plusses, and also, enjoying the nature helps, but for those of us living in big cities, nature isn’t easily accessible. Then, it is always a good idea to breathe deeply and think, “This too shall pass.”