Writer's Fallout Shelter

I think now we're getting into the level of description.

Mentioning or briefly going over a harsh situation seems to be accepted. Explicit scenes with every bit of detail explained seems to be where the line is drawn with some people.

Prime example: I recently finished Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. Toward the end there is a scene where Kahlan is nearly raped. The writer did an excellent job in that he roused an emotional reaction from me and a little bit of disgust. But he drew a line and stayed away from it. Nothing was too detailic (ha, my own word). We could picture the actions, yes, but he let us use our own minds to fill in what he left out. Even her retribution a page later was, while as severe as her pain, almost skimmed over to the point where we had to sit down and think of the words to get the full impact

As for reality outcomes, you really have to sit down and think. Most of what we see comes from the news, right? So we only see either the really good or the really bad, or even the really boring. There are probably thousands of bad guys living fairy tales lives that we don't even know about. Just because we don't hear about them, doesn't mean they don't exist. You show me a story where the bad guy outsmarts people and gets away, if written well and depending on the act, and then I'll applaud you. Think of it like Samuel L. Jackson's character in Unbreakable. If he hadn't said anything, no one would've known that he caused all the accidents. Bad guys get caught because of hubris, greed, or stupid mistakes. That's why serial killers are so hard to catch: they're smart and probably off living a fairy tale life while laughing at the authorities for failing.

Sometimes the story deviates from what you might've originally intended. It demands that something be a certain why and you, as the writer, are almost controlled. You have no say in what your characters said if you're dictating everything from your head. If you did, the story wouldn't be as... authentic. If you violently disagree with the turn your story took, then as a writer, sure, you're able to go in and fix it. If, however, you recognize the path the story is taking and realize that the scene fits, then there's a good chance you'll leave it alone. Maybe tone it down a bit but generally leave it be. That's why we have ratings and the readers can choose to read it or not. But sometimes it doesn't matter about what you feel comfortable writing if that's how the story's supposed to be. Sometimes we're only the narrators, not the creators.

It all comes down to the depth of description and where the story leads you. ...Um... In my experience, of course...