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This week: Writing the Violent Scenes Edited by: Joy  
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“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.”
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Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about depicting violence effectively in scenes.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
I admit that I have mostly bypassed excess violence with a summarizing sentence or had a character mention it in past tense, but this is cowardly writing, and I don’t advise other writers to do that. Plus, I have promised myself to get over such trepidations. After all, violence is a fact of life. Even so, I certainly hope violence never happens in our daily lives; however, the most primitive form of conflict appears as violence, and fiction depends upon conflict to be successful. Thrillers, crime and horror stories, and some historical works usually contain violence to one degree or another.
The question is: Why would a reader enjoy reading a violent scene or action?
This may be because the human mind is attracted to the extremes as if in simulation, rehearsing for what might happen in case it happens. This is, in fact, a peculiar form of escape. People can imagine the most wonderful things, but also, the most horrible things: sudden deaths of loved ones, airplane crashes, torture, broken bones, knife in the belly, being made fun of in front of crowds, etc.
Since violence exists in real life, it is also needed in some good fiction for the sake of believable writing. Besides, when the need for violence arises, it usually offers possibilities for the depiction of a wide range of actions and ins and outs of character involvements. At one point or another, most any writer may have to come up with a violent scene. The evasion of it could be to the detriment of her or his writing.
On the other hand, any violence needs to be shown for a good reason. To give a cheap thrill, to show that the writer has guts, or to be published in a certain media are not good reasons for writing violence. Yet, as the outcome of what happened before as the result of the heightened suspense, tension, and action, violence adds a lot to the drama of a scene. It is especially praiseworthy when such a scene acts as a means to higher ideals like sacrifice, love, redemption, justice, or forgiveness.
As an example, let us look at such a scene from Heroes Die by Matthew Stover:
“His eyes pop open when he feels my hand grip his throat: I’m far too professional to try to stifle his shout with a hand over the mouth, and only a squeak gets past my grip. Further struggle is discouraged by his close-up view of my knife, its thick, double-edged point from his right eye.” Even more brutal action takes place in this scene, but the hero, before he finishes off the victim, tells him why he is killing him, and from his words, the reader understands that the reason is justice. “Your punitive taxes are weakening both Kirisch-Nar and Jheled- Kaarn--they tell me ten thousand free peasants starved of death in Kaarn alone last winter…You have ignored and insulted the Lipkan trade delegation and have dismissed the Council of Brothers’ admonition…”
Showing violence in a believable and original way comes with a few challenges. To ease those challenges, the basic principles in writing violence are:
 Never write violence for the sake of writing violence. Write it if it is the result of earlier events and scenes, and if a violent scene doesn’t tell a story or add to the plot, don’t write it.
With the characters involved in a scene, always keep in mind that everyone has a weakness. Invulnerable characters, be it as victims or the cruel ones, are boring and unrealistic.
Add emotion to the action. Graphic action alone turns a scene into a cartoon. Since executing any violent action is traumatic, the emotions felt especially by the perpetrator of violence deepens the scene. Then, if you can carry this traumatic scar in him or her after the violent scene into the following scenes, so much the better.
In violent scenes, as in most scenes, the voice of the characters are more unforgettable in the mind of the reader than that of the writer; therefore, do not say, “X felt furious,” but show X’s fury in his actions and through his voice and thoughts.
Focus on the state of mind in all characters in the scene. In addition, it is a good idea not to set weak, passive victims against a brute or someone mentally tough. To increase the drama in the scene, make the victim strong in some way, too.
To slow down or lengthen the effect of the action in such a scene, add tidbits from its setting.
May all the violent scenes from your pens turn out to be spectacular!  |
 Enjoy!
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 This Issue's Tip: Correlation of the exterior and interior attributes of a character (such as a homely appearance pointing to a moral ugliness) works better with the primary characters, but not so much with the lesser ones, as this may take the attention away from the important people and events.
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Feedback for "Kinsmen of the Primary Characters"
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Quick-Quill 
Christine Feehan has a Mind Games series. The group are enhance warriors. Each book has one dealing with saving someone from their nemesis. The group as a whole reacts and comes to the rescue depending on the skill needed. She write this awesome series with a deep backstory about family. Some good some not so good. If you like action and sex her series is a great one to read.
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into it.
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Elisa: Snowman Stik 
This particular quote stood out to me in the entire newsletter: "In a few spiritual and self-actualizing stories, however, the family may be shown as being detrimental to the character." I am curious about two things. First is how you define self-actualizing. Anytime I hear that term, I think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and cringe like crazy. Second, why just spiritual/self actualizing stories? I'm actually about to rewrite a novella where the main character has to break from her (blood) family to save her own life (as her family supports a culture she wishes to abolish). I'm not so sure that's self-actualization. I see it more as primal self preservation.
Hi Elisa,
In your novella, it may be primal self-preservation, true, if the character is fighting against pressure or abuse. Yet, even if there are no hardships thrown in her way by her family and even if she has no objections to the way they live, a character may choose to find her own way to fit her specific personality. She may also feel that staying in that environment would not further her personal growth. In that case, it becomes self-actualization.
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Drama: June 01, 2016 Issue [#7648]
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