 |
 |
|
|
7.
AOTW: Where do you as an author draw the line on gory descriptions?
Tananarive Due: Horror and gore, to me, are almost wholly unrelated --- one of the most promising trends in horror filmmaking today is the move away from gore and back to imagination. There is more gore in The Living Blood than in any of my previous books but I try to handle it in the most realistic and least gratuitous way possible, not because I'm afraid of offending readers but because that works better for the stories I write. If you come with too much too fast, it's possible to knock your reader out of the story, and they lose empathy with the characters. To me, character is first and foremost. If your readers love and believe in your characters, you can scare them if your character is just crossing the street against traffic. My style of writing doesn't call for a lot of gore.
Kelley Armstrong: I don't like to read extreme gore. As a reader, I skim past anything that starts making my stomach churn. My simple rule, then, is that if I wouldn't read it, I won't write it.
David Searcy: The more meticulously the damage is described, the less it appalls, the more it exhilarates in a way.
Whitley Strieber: I never even think about it. My stories go where they need to go.
Ameilia Atwater-Rhodes: I have a tough stomach for gore, which has been a problem for me in the past. I'll say something (or write something) and suddenly people around me will look queasy, without my realizing it was so bad. If something makes me sick, I've gone too far. If people tell me "I couldn't read that; it was too bad" I'll go back and fix it. I try to listen to my readers, and judge what they will think is too much.
Douglas Clegg: I draw the line where it takes the reader out of the book, as I would with an element meant to heighten the tension within the world of the book. I notice characters, terror, fear, plot, and good or bad writing. For gore, I can turn to Jeffery Deaver or to Patricia Cornwell or to Thomas Harris. I suspect that horror movies have influenced people concentrating on gore when they talk about horror fiction. Most of the horror fiction I read is distinctly non-gory.
R.L. Stine: Since I write for kids, I have to be very careful. I have to make sure that my stories are pure fantasy --- nothing real. I have to give the kids shivers --- but not nightmares.
Christopher Schildt: All that is needed in describing gory descriptions is sufficient description to allow the reader's mind to fill in the gruesome details. Not every body part or dismemberment need by described in gross minutia, for this becomes boring. Readers are sufficiently intelligent to supply the details required by the scene. The author need only trigger the reader's mind and the reader's imagination will do the rest. In my opinion, using detailed descriptions of gruesome scenes shows a lack of writing talent, for the talented writer does not need descriptive gore to frighten the reader.
Darren Shan: In adult fiction, I draw no lines --- I believe 100% in the freedom of speech where adults are concerned. In my children's books, I think about what I would be comfortable telling my own children (if I had any!), and don't put anything into my books which I wouldn't want a child of my own to read. Many of the children I've discussed my books with actually wish they were gorier (most children are little monsters), but I do believe adults need to be responsible when writing for children -- just not TOO responsible.
|
|
|
|
|
(c) Copyright 2001, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com. All rights
reserved.
|
|
