Do authors have a moral obligation to provide readers with hope?
Plus plotting problems, a poll, and this month's paid subscriber extras (Writing Journal #9)
My writing experiences over the past couple of weeks have reminded me that no one should ever underestimate how challenging it is to write a novel! I’ve been in plotting purgatory, thanks to discovering a plot strand was falling short of where I wanted it to be, but thankfully I think I’ve escaped after realising I just need to add another section of backstory. The process I used to figure this out was basically two days of obsessing over the problem and making my poor husband listen constantly to my dilemma. And while this was going on I had to ditch my word count goals and go back to drawing out all the character relationship dynamics on paper to try to figure out what was going wrong.
This is why I get discouraged from plotting up front. I’ve found that however much I plot first, some cracks don’t appear until I start writing. Therefore, although I’d love to be more of a plotter, in reality too much plotting at the outset of a novel often ends up slowing me down – because only as I get into the depth of the story can I really suss out whether my original ideas stand up to scrutiny (and to start with, often, they don’t). Usually, I need to keep upping the stakes and rethinking things as I go along – and while it’s disconcerting to constantly have to develop or rework my ideas, I try to remind myself that the magic always happens in this messy process.
I also have to remind myself that hard does not mean bad – and stuck doesn’t mean I can’t do it. This can also be a challenge – and it’s easy to get down on myself at these moments. You’d think I’d be used to it all now, but the solitary nature of writing can make it hard at times – and I’m grateful to have writing friends and an understanding partner to give me a lift when I need it! Plus, every now and again I’m gifted one of those beautiful writing sessions where it just flows - reminding me how much I love the whole process. This might be because something has inspired or invigorated me, but often it’s also a reward for having done the messy ‘digging in’, which has unlocked more of the story.
Luckily I had a break from my plotting quagmire last week, because my lovely Writers of the North group (comprised of
, Josephine Taylor, David Allan Petale and myself) had an event at the Mandurah Readers & Writers Festival. And at the end of the session we had an audience member ask a question that got me jumping around in my seat because it was such a good one:In our current times, do authors of dystopian fiction have a moral obligation to provide readers with some hope? And – by extension – if a reader was to read a confronting and depressing book that offered no hope for the future, and were then to take their own life, would the author be culpable? Could they be held legally accountable?
I’m not going to even try to provide an easy answer here – but the question is so interesting. I doubt an author could be held fully culpable for driving someone to end their life without there being other contributing factors – but perhaps there are exceptions. I once chatted to a psychologist who told me she had a steady stream of teens suffering from depression after studying The Hunger Games at school. And I remember reading about an assault case that mentioned Fifty Shades of Grey, and wondering how I would feel as an author if something in one of my books encouraged someone to do something dangerous or illegal – because dark things happen in my stories too (although there are no sex dungeons so far!). However, I write these stories as a safe space for us to explore darker and more troubling sides of humanity, not as an instruction book! In the Fifty Shades case, the defendant was acquitted, but it made me wonder: if someone were found guilty in such a scenario, could the author be held liable too for providing the ‘instruction’? I’m sure there must be many more examples that touch on this theme of an author’s moral culpability - and if you know of any I’d love to hear them.
Now, returning to the first part of the question: do authors have a moral obligation to provide some level of hope in their work? My take is that it would be dangerous to set rules like this for authors – because freedom of expression is key to creativity, and sometimes the darkness in a story is essential for its plot or message. I’ve read some very powerful stories that don’t let any light into their endings - I can think of three dystopias in particular, but I don’t want to name them as it feels unfair to talk about their book endings. However, I’m sure that part of the intended power of these endings is that they give the reader an unexpected slap – or a hefty warning: If you are looking for redemption, there is none here – therefore we CANNOT travel this path. I can’t say I liked or enjoyed these endings – but they stick out vividly in my mind years later, impacting me both through the daring of the authors, and the complicated feelings they left me with.
However, I understand the case against bleakness in fiction too. A while ago I was planning to share my takes on some dystopian short stories that I’ve enjoyed in the past, but when I went back and reread them I was shocked at how bleak they were. This hadn’t struck me on first read – probably because they felt far more like fiction back then, when, from the relative safety of the early 2000s, I couldn’t imagine witnessing such plotlines and characters in our lifetimes. However, things had changed on my reread last year – and I found I didn’t want to share them any more, because they would be too depressing and realistic for readers.
All of this is the flip side of the biggest trend in publishing for the past few years: which is the huge market demand for positive, uplifting stories. This is entirely understandable and predictable: we’ve been through a global event that’s impacted countless lives – why the heck wouldn’t we want to read about a return to something safer? Of course we’d rather spend our time with characters who are going to win, succeed, find love, and, most importantly, BE OKAY.
But what does it mean for us as a culture if we’re not willing to entertain the messages and the resonance found in darker, bleaker stories? And what impact does it have on writers who work in this area, deftly dissecting the dark places of our inner and outer lives? Is constantly seeking safety in novels a distraction, or a trap, from which there can’t really be a happy ending beyond the pages of the story? Or is it providing succour and giving readers strength to take on real life? Might it, paradoxically, be both these things at the same time?
I can offer you no clear answers here: just an acknowledgement of the challenges, and my own awareness of trying to muddle through the complexity of it all. For my forthcoming novel When She Was Gone, I have definitely stepped back a little (not too much though!) from the confronting plotlines of The Hush (described by readers on GoodReads as ‘gritty, scary and a bit too real’; ‘could be a foreshadowing of what is to come in 2025’ and ‘this would’ve been an entertaining read if there wasn’t a real possibility that this could happen’) and I’m currently working on more of a classic whodunnit. This is a conscious choice for both personal and commercial reasons. I needed a break from some of the more extreme and challenging themes – plus I LOVE murder mysteries so it’s a thrill to have a go at one and put it into my style of psychological suspense. However, one of the next projects I want to get to is The Hush 2 – so I’m not planning to stay away forever. Besides, I don’t want to read another review where someone complains that the ending left them wanting more and there isn’t a sequel, when it was never intended as a standalone!
An author dilemma
In a recent post I mentioned wanting to think carefully about how often my work lands in inboxes - and this is still the case - but, ironically, I’m also thinking of starting a second Substack! Yep, call me crazy, but most of my online time is spent here now (and this is likely to increase as more people join and Meta goes happily towards being a cesspit of misinformation). My dilemma is that I’ve ended up making The Resilient Author much more targeted towards writers, which I love, but I also want a place for readers where I can share bits of my work, my short stories, some behind the scenes, book reviews and recommendations, etc. etc. without feeling like I’m bombarding those who are here for the writing tips and publishing chat but don’t read books in my genre.
So, I’m wondering whether to miss a post once a month here and use it for a reader-oriented Substack – but I’m still thinking. I’d be super grateful if you could help me out by choosing one of these options:
Thanks for reading The Resilient Author this week - and Happy Writing!
When She Was Gone: The Countdown is On!
69 Sleeps until When She Was Gone hits the shops! And something truly wonderful happened over Christmas: the one and only Marian Keyes read my book and had this to say about it!
‘I was gripped by When She Was Gone, I couldn’t bear being away from it. The characterisation is top-notch: such interesting, flawed, nuanced people. And the plotting is excellent – I was guessing and guessing and getting it wrong. I absolutely LOVED this book.’
I still remember finding Watermelon and falling in love with Marian’s writing back in 2000 when I was working for HarperCollins, so this is truly one of those ‘pinch me’ moments! I’m incredibly grateful for Marian’s generous words.
This month for paid subscribers
A sneak peek for those of you interested in my paid subscription…
I previously mentioned adding my paid section ‘Just One More Thing’ to the end of these journals – but I’m just so frustrated by the fact that if I do this, all my free subscribers can’t comment at the end of my post, because I love chatting with you all! So I’m doubling back and still sending Just One More Thing out as a separate newsletter, with a sneak peek here - a double whammy this week for paid subscribers.
In Just One More Thing this month:
· My plotting diagram
· The focus words I’ve chosen to help me thrive this year
· Notes and insights on current publishing trends
· A personal story about how The Hush has changed from dystopia to being seen as contemporary, realistic fiction – and a meeting with a reader that gave me shivers.
Coming to paid subscriber inboxes tomorrow!
And finally, I thought I’d introduce you to some of the family as we go along, so here’s my pet of the week: awarded for sheer cuteness this time. Our cavoodle pup Luna is growing up fast and at four months is entering her velociraptor phase, biting everything in sight while she’s teething. She’s also showing signs of going grey - hopefully not in response to living in the Foster household!
