I have had a story that wants to be written, but I can't quite condense it yet and I'm afraid it's too transversive, cliche', or controversial. The story is also so personal that it's hard to convey it without me getting in the way. It starts off on the premise of questioning and observations I've made. It seems that a huge amount of activists, liberals, anti-establishment folks etc. are labeled sick/mentally ill by society. This is not a new concept. But it's been growing a lot on me over the years.
I just don't know if anyone would believe in the idea, or buy into the concept of a schizophrenic's "delusions" being rooted in reality, and the actual reality being much like a tree of consciousness, where everyone is connected. The schizophrenic in psychosis can see into these frightening coincidences, tap into the future, synchronicty and to the extent it overwhelms them...and then, so many of our experiences are beyond real. So real it keeps us taking our pills, because we're afraid of what we'll see, or find out. I mean, like things in your mind becoming real. I mean, like reality being a mesh of real and unreal, i mean...like people are asleep for real. Like we are all asleep.
This is what the somewhat fictionalized character would be like: she has been diagnosed with labels I haven't decided yet. But the kicker is that she believes the mental health system caused her to split identities, in other words. She has MPD because of psychiatry damaging her so much. I just don't know yet what she will DO to make a profound story. I want it to be kinda like fight club...but different, with a female protagonist. I want it to be shocking....
I just can't seem to gather the courage to write it, because it would be transversive. It would go against everything i'm told to believe...that i am basically, not seeing anything...and I'm worried it might be true. which is even more confusing, because that's a dilemma right there. I mean, I don't have symptoms, and I just...get tired of the crap...and I actually crave psychosis like a prophet craves God. And I think many of us "schizos" do. Which I find odd. No, it's not a delusional world for me that I crave. It's something fundamentally interwoven within me that is crying for release.
K. so what do ya'll think. is this doable? Good concept? Or too out there? I really am holding onto this idea because I want to be the one to write it, and no one else. I'd have to be at least a littl e manic to even write it, and lately I just dont have the energy to put thoughts to words.
Wtf is 'transversive'?
You never know until you try.
Don't ever be afraid of an idea that you have; especially one that is "controversial". Those are usually the best ideas. It's an entirely doable story, but it will be difficult to write effectively. As long as you're comfortable with that, then I say do it and to hell with anyone who says different.
People know that when they read fiction, it's not supposed to be the TRUTH. In writing this story, you'll be showing a different perspective on a common situation, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, that's one of the greatest gifts of fiction. According to that short synopsis, the protagonist is going to be an unreliable narrator, which means that while she believes that the mental health system has caused her illness, the reader won't necessarily agree. It'll be something for the reader to decide. And that makes the story interesting right there - it becomes interactive from the start.
Controvesy isn't something to shy away from in fiction. Write your story, and write it your way. If it's good, it'll find an audience that applauds you for taking a shot at a complicated idea. If it's great, they'll love the way you turn the world on its head. And if it's bad, then you'll have to rewrite it until it is good.
It sounds like you're writing from a perspective of experience, and that will deepen the character. If she believes what she says, then a reader will accept it. A reader might not think it's reality, but we will suspend our disbelief to go along with the story.
Write. Write. Write.
Be nice Jeffrey Grant Barr haha
No idea is too "out there", don't limit yourself with the notion that you have boundaries. Don't over think it, just write.
Is that an angel, admonishing me from on high? Why no, it's Stacy Kear!
I am an angel and you are no devil, you just pretend. Jeffrey Grant Barr is a super duper nice guy, he shits rainbows and unicorns. He loves big bear hugs and cotton candy. His smile is pure sunshine. He loves skipping, holding hands and whistling. ~ Now your secret is out
~ Now your secrete is out
Ick. Not his secrete.
Well. Some of the main players in my first workshop submission are the real-life CEOs of the four largest toy manufacturers in the world and Jesus Christ, and that hasn't seemed to bother anyone. I say go for it. The premise sounds interesting.
*oops
Howie is so right, it's astonishing. My advise would be to focus on the character and build from there. The theme has defined the character, so just let your character live and, more importantly, interact. From there, the story will build from there because you'll have a strong characters with strong ideals doing "real" things. Don't force the theme and you'll be good to go.
Or "write, write, write." The finest advise one can receive.
Thanks for the input. I've been writing short stories off and on. I also want to write science/fantasy fiction based on some recurring dreams. That might have a better market, I dunno. But I think I will write this story eventually. I don't want it to be too depressing, but I like the idea that no one really can prove or disprove what you see and experience as real.
Robert Moss always wrote from dreams. His books on dream work are great. And Carlos Castanada, too. Again, challenging the perception of reality is a great place to write from.
And it's a way to change the way people think. It can be beautiful and uplifting or dark and depressing - but either way, as long as the protagonist is conflicted and believeable, it doesn't matter what the TRUTH is. Rosemary's Baby is a book that challenges social convention while allowing the reader to try to discover the truth of the story - and it's about a woman's rights over her body while being a horror story. It's great.
I also want to write science/fantasy fiction based on some recurring dreams. That might have a better market, I dunno. But I think I will write this story eventually. I don't want it to be too depressing, but I like the idea that no one really can prove or disprove what you see and experience as real.
I actually wrote down two real dreams for a college writing class years ago, and it was amazing because I still remember it now. I'm always unsure of my abilities to tell a good story. Let it happen naturally like most things in life. I must confess that now older...writing my dreams down and presenting them to an audience may seem too easy. Sometimes life hands us things on a silver platter.
I'm about to unleash my creative side, which has been neglected and suppressed by yours truly. Allowing creativity to be free is an amazing feat.
Sometimes writing depressing things can educated others on what not to do in order to avoid that same experience. I've read excerpts of Alice Sebold's college paper. And I was astonished. I want to be that kind of fearless writer. But I'm not good with violent scenes. I'm a goody goody.
My debut novel BISIK is written based on my perception and what I know and heard about people who suffers schizophrenia. I agree with most of you guys here, just write it out and let the words just flow naturally. Don't worry about it being too out there or too controversy. What is important is that you write it out and get it out of your system and can rework on it later.
Once you have written it down, they you'll be able to read and judge it whether the work is too provative for others or not.
=)
activists, liberals, anti-establishment folks etc. are labeled sick/mentally ill by society
The schizophrenic in psychosis can see into these frightening coincidences, tap into the future, synchronicty and to the extent it overwhelms them...
It's something fundamentally interwoven within me that is crying for release.
Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean nobody is out to get you. The first quote is about actual events, the second is about the underlying psyche of the world as felt by sensitives and the third is the main character's journey to a place where things are revealed or resolved or not. You could practice dreams in this story as well. Is it a memory or an experience or a dream.
These are all helpful recommendations. I want to do more fact checking too. I know that in the past there were stories about women esp being lobotomized by their husbands if they didn't behave appropriately toward them. I think it would be interesting to do it more like a historical fiction, since I honestly don't think it happens much or often in the present day that women are sent off to be rehabilitated to fit patriarchy. It could be a thriller where the woman is an activist and her husband works for the CIA or a government organization that he doesnt want her to know about. They could have two kids. It could even be based around the woman's suffrage movement. I could fictionalize actual events and mix them together to develop my characters. Maybe the woman is sent to be lobotomized and keeps a journal hidden in the asylum ward, so that after she's lobotamized she can tell her story. She could be writing letters to someone across the globe who intends to rescue her, and I could do a narrative from each character. It could begin by a journalist coming to visit her sister. The sister brings him the journal and he picks it up and begins reading it. I also think it might be interesting if toward the ending, the woman begins having dreams up until she dies, in a coma, because the surgery went wrong. So after the first half of backstory, then the woman's dreams become the story where she depicts an entire world where rules are reversed, women are in the highest positions and always have been. I guess it would be meant to scare people, to see what it would be like if the rules were reversed. So all the stereotyping is more bent towards men than women. Men are depicted as frail creatures, women as strong gutsy, curvy, and everything that a woman would like to not worry about.
