Purple Prose:
rape/sexual assault

I’ve seen this question a lot on the internet lately: Why do you write [fill in the blank] novels? Good question. What is it that calls to you to write a certain genre?

I could answer this like many YA writers do by saying I love writing about the Firsts. First kiss. First boyfriend. First taste of freedom. But this is the real reason I write it . . . .

You go to the hiding place in your room where you’ve stashed the knife, its blade seductively sharp. No one will notice, it reminds you. You’re perfectly safe.

You pull up the sleeve of your long-sleeved t-shirt, and find an empty spot. Or maybe, like a diabetic readying herself for her insulin shot, you search for another site. One less used. Maybe your thigh.

With pressure, you draw the blade across your skin, relishing the stinging bite. The physical pain is welcomed. Wanted. Craved. Anything to numb the other pain. The one you’ve cleverly hidden from your friends and family. They don’t know. So easily fooled.

Your heart sinks. There’s nothing more than a deep impression. Not enough to draw blood. You try again, this time a little harder. By the time you’ve finished, pinprick-sized drops of blood peak from the first attempt. Oh, well, guess you didn’t have to do it twice after all. Now you have two cuts to deal with.

Deep down you know what you’re doing is wrong, but you can’t help yourself. The release you feel afterwards is worth it. And sure, writing GUYS ARE ASSHOLES in permanent ink might be a more effective reminder. But that would be harder to explain than the cuts. At least with the cuts you can lie. You can tell people a branch scratched you. The thicker ones you can explain happened while canoeing. But better yet, you don’t let people see them in the first place. Especially while they’re healing.

I wasn’t a teen when this became a bitter part of my reality, but I was pretty close to it. I was in university at the time. I thought I was the only person who did this. I had no idea until a few years ago that there was even a name for it. No one talked about it. It was never mentioned in any of the books I read. Sure, there were books that talked about suicide, but these were adult novels. And cutting is NOT the same as entertaining suicidal thoughts and acting on them. Not even close.

Back when I was a teen, there were no YA stories about cutting, rape, suicide, depression, eating disorders, drugs. There were no novels that reached out to give hope to those going through these realities, to show them that there was help available, that they weren’t alone. That there were other teens dealing with the same issues.

Some people think these topics (including sex) should be excluded from YA novels. If we don’t talk about them, teens won’t do them. But that’s not true. When I was a teen, books didn’t talk about these things, but teens still did them. To me, the role of a YA writer is to reach out to a teen who’s struggling with an issue in her life (or knows someone who is going through the same thing). Maybe not necessarily these big issues. There are many smaller ones that most teens face that are no less important to them and that make great stories, including the first kiss, first boyfriend, betrayal by the best friend.

So, why do I write and read YA? For the firsts. For the raw honesty and emotion. And let’s face it, for the hot guys (the ones who are sweet and endearing).

Question:

Why do you write the genre(s) that you’re writing?

Or

How do you feel about these tougher issues being deal with in YA novels?

(Notes: 1. Okay, before you all freak out on me. That dark point in my life is over. Fortunately, I was eventually able to heal, and have since learned different coping mechanisms to deal with stress and emotional pain. 2. Thank you, Sarah Fine, for blogging about cutting and the YA novel, Willow, both which were the inspiration for this post. )

Believability is extremely important when writing fiction. Characters, plot, actions, concepts, fantasy elements all have to be believable if you want your reader to read the book instead of hurling it across the room in disgust.

But how can you make sure everything is believable? Research.

Why do it?

I’m going to use my novel, Lost in a Heartbeat, as an example why it’s important to do the research. The story deals with a seventeen year old who was raped by a guy she met at a party. She never tells anyone what happened (for numerous reasons).

I was sexually assaulted as a teen. I never told anyone. It was late at night and I was coming home from work. I knew if I told my parents, my mom would force me to quit my job. I didn’t want that to happen because I was saving to go to Finland the following summer. That was my motivation to keep silent. That, plus I was humiliated enough as it was without telling them.

In addition to my own experience, I know several females who were raped or sexually assaulted as teenagers. Each had a different story. Each dealt with it differently. I also did tons of research on rape and post traumatic stress disorder.

A few things I discovered:

• The majority of rapes don’t happen in a dark alley with a strange. Most of the time the female knows the individual (e.g. date rape, abusive relationship)

• Depending on which stats you’re looking at, between 50-80% of survivors of rape and sexual assault don’t report it.

• Some females develop trust issues when it comes to guys. They don’t want to date or be intimate with anyone (including their boyfriend or spouse).

• Some females figure sex must be all they’re good for, and start to seek it out just to prove themselves right.

When you create your character, it’s important that you know the facts to make sure she’s believable. Remember, you’re not writing for the reader who’s never been in the situation. You’re writing for the reader who has. She knows what’s believable. You don’t want to alienate her because you wrote your story and characters based on your assumptions.

Beta Readers

This leads me to my next point: beta readers. I had a beta reader who told me it was unrealistic that my main character never told her parents. The individual assumed because she would have told her parents everyone else would, too. This same issue occurred with an instructor through a writing course I was taking at the time. And let's not forget the critique of my query, during a contest, that resulted in this post. The benefit of researching the topic first was that I was able to prove that it was realistic for my main character not to tell her parents.

If you’re beta reading a project and you question the believability of the character’s actions, definitely mention it. Unless you know for certain the writer’s done the research, you might point out something she was fudging, hoping it was right. This will force them to do the research. And maybe they have done it, but they need to strengthen this element in the novel.

Credibility

It doesn’t matter what your story is about, make sure you’ve done your homework. You never want to assume anything. If you do and you’re wrong, you’ll lose credibility. And in the publishing industry, it’s something you don’t want to lose.