It’s the first Wednesday of the month. Time for Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post. Join HERE!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the October 6 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett,J Lenni Dorner,Cathrina Constantine,Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and Mary Aalgaard!
October 6 question – In your writing, where do you draw the line, with either topics or language?
Fantastic question. I’m excited to read other’s posts!
I find myself cringing when euphemisms are used in place of unsavory hard truths. Candor is divine. This is how I write. I’m also not into shock value and gratuitous details unless it moves the plot forward. The most depraved things one can imagine have already been committed to the page. While working with friends as booksellers in indie stores with access to every book both in and out of print we would challenge each other to find the most depraved, the most cursed, the most outlandish books ever written. It’s a popular conversation when shelving and placing orders to warehouses all over the world.
What I thought would be cool to read was in reality a terrible idea. I’ve since learned to look around the sun instead of staring directly at it. If I’m interested in a read that isn’t in my bandwidth, and I’m not talking about Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom or Henry Miller’s Under The Roofs of Paris, I go to their reviewers. While the books just mentioned aren’t digestible for me either, the ones I’m referencing here are much more depraved. I’ve discovered I can learn just as much reading other people’s writings on the uneasy pieces. There’s no back space delete button in our brains. The scholars have already suffered through it so I don’t have to.
That being said, I absolutely hate euphemisms. They scream shame and disgust at whatever act the writer is describing. Writing the sex scene is difficult. But when it’s necessary I find less is more, and direct and to the point is better than the flowery side-stepping of what is actually taking place. If his telescope erects from his submarine in search of her sandy shores, delete that shit.
Looking forward to reading everyone’s hard lines when it comes to writing. What’s yours? Happy IWSG Day!