I’m a big reader, devouring books like donuts. And a bit of a writer as well (albeit not a great one!) I’ve always read a wide range of books, and my writings tend to be as varied, from fantasy to comedy to chilvalry and political revolution. I like writing about people, all kinds of people, from all different parts of the wold, cultures, faiths. My characters are Catholics and Christians, atheists and buddhists. Chaste newlyweds and those who didn’t wait for marriage. Angels, the devout, the doubting. Homosexuals who have chosen to live chaste lives, and others who have not.
I’ve always been drawn to these stories, writing and reading, because they had such a wide slice of humanity, showing how ones past, ones faith, one’s sins affect everything about oneself. I don’t, of course, think premarital sex or atheism is right, but I always felt it was merely portraying reality in fiction, and that to ignore and omit things about the world that were not pure would be a flawed portrayal of humanity.
However, today, I was told by a family friend (I don’t know her faith, but I’m fairly sure it isn’t Catholic) told me that to willingly acknowledge sin like this is just as bad as committing the sin itself, and that writing sin has made me sin.
I don’t understand, but I’m trying to. I was never intending to sin- my stories and the ones I love to read are not sexual nor violent bloodbaths. All along, trying to write what I saw in the world, have I been sinning?
Aw man, you and I are quite alike when it comes to stories. Reading about stories that give you that subtle feeling that it reflects reality without over exaggerating, now that’s what I call slice of life. I’m probably just a tad bit more expressive than you though when it comes to details.
Personally though, I haven’t exactly been reading a lot of “books” per se but comics. However, I make no discrimination between both when it comes to the sheer sequence of events that is story-telling. Simply put, art and writing style come second to plot.
Anyways, I can’t stand sugarcoated stories too. Stories that don’t reflect the imperfection of the human person and don’t explore the struggles real people go through might as well be written for toddlers.
Now you’re asking if writing about sin is a sin. Actually, it’s how you portray sin. Take lust for instance. I’ve read many stories (both fanfiction and original) that are quite kinky and have attempted to pen a few kinky paragraphs myself (much to my great embarrassment afterwards
). I’ve noticed that with the right words you can (to an extent) mold a reader’s reaction in a certain direction.
So with that said, ask yourself, “What am I trying to make my reader feel?”
Now personally, I like writing stories about morally woebegone societies. A world where crime, corruption, and gang youth violence are the premises and set in a dreary, urban backdrop; a world where what was illegal became legal (and vice versa). Still there are those who dwell in such a world who struggle to do whatever right thing they can, despite the difficulty and unfair circumstances such a world throws them.
One of the most common scenarios and issues tackled in such a setting though is prostitution, pornography, and rape. Now whenever I find myself in need of painting a scene like that (be it a girl forcibly sold to a pimp or a high schooler assaulted by her teacher etc) I always make the girls look like victims. Not sex toys,
victims. Now I’ve watched movies and documentaries as well as read articles regarding prostitution. Despite all the unavoidable details, they instead chose to
highlight the despair, the humiliation, the helplessness, and the outright grief these poor women experienced.
That’s what it means to shape your audience’s perspective. The grisly details can be there but instead of glorifying those, you instead present it as something as it should be seen in the eyes of a moral person: That such things are contemptible, repulsive, and a complete violation of human rights.
Next up is violence and unlike the awkwardness I feel when writing kinky stuff, choreographing fights is the one thing I just feel so good about. The clash of the sword. The flurry of fists. The channeling of mystical energies to unleash destructive phenomenon.
You really gotta admit, such things are just sweet eye candy (be they portrayed with words or with pictures).
Now glorifying violence is always an issue I find wholly misunderstood. Violence is merely a tool. It all depends on who you use it against. Surely you would be disgusted or turned off if you saw violence being done to an innocent person (which is why even an action junkie like myself always found slasher flicks to be disgusting and pointless).
On the other hand, what if said violence was done to the villains I mentioned above?
The pimp who slaps the women he’s enslaved.
The teacher who abuses his position of authority to shamelessly harass his student.
These are all typical villain archetypes and I portray them to be hopelessly unrepentant to the end. They’re the finest examples of what the worst a human being could be.
With that said, I highly doubt it’d be difficult to feel sorry for people like that even if they were oh, let’s say… cleaved in half? Burned alive? Fed with lead? All while trying to escape justice.
In short, violence is like gun control. It’s not a sin in of itself. It just comes with the responsibility of knowing who to point it too.
P.S.
To the one who said that being a writer, artist, or creator is a dangerous vocation: You’re only saying that because you’re seeing it from the eyes of someone not called to it. It’s the same way I’ve heard writers like myself find the priesthood unappealing because we’ve judged from our perspective.
