[stylist] Reading scary-disturbing material

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Donna and others,

I completely agree with you as well. What we read shouldn't always be
limited, but we also need an escape from reality every now and then, and
sometimes, you just want the good guys to come out on top, smile.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 15
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:12:47 -0500
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Reading scary/disturbing material
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Bridgit and all,
I don't draw a distinction between disturbing stuff in literature and
disturbing stuff in real life. For instance, NPR did a story about
France
this morning mentioning Joan of Arc. There was only one fleeting mention
of
her being burned at the stake, but it's always bothered me. I agree that
we
need to know what goes on in the world, that trying to pretend human
beings
aren't capable of the most outrageous cruelties leaves us unacquainted
with
the truth and unprepared for life, but sometimes you just need an
escape,
which you certainly don't get from the evening news and most of what's
on
the tube. That said, fiction is a powerful tool for acquainting the
reader
with the realities of the world, and sometimes the writer draws things
together with a happy or at least just outcome, which would probably not
happen in real life. 

Each writer has to work through these issues, and having once decided
upon a
path, the writer may not hold to it forever. Over the years, it seems
that
John Grisham, for instance, has become more jaded and less inclined to
give
the reader that happy but unrealistic ending.

In my novel, "The Heart of Applebutter Hill," I tried to split the
difference in terms of rectifying injustice. Without giving away the
plot,
I'll say that I provide the reader with some satisfaction that the bad
guys
have been found out and put in their place, but that because of power
and
wealth, penalties are not distributed even-handedly.
Donna