Bill Ward's Blog - Posts Tagged "sensitivity"
What responsibility does an author have to his subject?
I choose topical subjects for my thrillers and as a result it isn’t really surprising that people will have a view on my subject matter. With regard to my novel – Trafficking, which has received generally excellent reviews, there have been a couple of negative comments accusing me of sensationalising and trivialising a human tragedy.
There is no doubt that human sex trafficking is one of today’s most abhorrent crimes and sadly is a growing problem throughout the world. So by choosing to write a fictional thriller have I tried to make money out of other people’s suffering?
I was keen to write about this subject for the very reason it is a terrible crime and I hoped that in some small way, shedding further light on the subject helps grow awareness. My book could have been darker and I have chosen a girl as the central character, who deals far better with her circumstances than would ninety nine per cent of girls faced with the same terrible circumstances. She ultimately escapes being trafficked, which very few girls will do in real life so perhaps the story is not a realistic representation of the grim reality most girls face. I certainly wouldn’t want to trivialise something grave but I believe I have license to portray the character who may only represent one per cent of girls if I so choose.
I do feel authors have a responsibility to our subject and that is to be generally factually correct so as not to mislead our readers but it is a fine line as we are by definition writing fiction! Personally, I see my main responsibility as to entertain my readers and perhaps educate a little.
I have given quite a bit of thought to the critical reviews and whether I am guilty of taking advantage of other people’s suffering. On reflection, I believe most of us who write crime thrillers are inevitably constructing stories around terrible crimes, which for some people will have a very personal resonance. A story about a family murder; a chilling story about terrorism or drugs; a story about abuse; are I believe no different to my story about sex trafficking but I do have a biased view!
In the end, reading is for most people a very subjective experience and what one person loves another will hate. Even with the same subject matter, it will often be a case of how the author handles a sensitive subject as to whether the reader has an enjoyable experience or not.
I wondered if anyone else has faced the dilemma of how to cover a controversial subject matter? Are there subjects we should stay away from because they are simply too raw? I would be interested in your views.
There is no doubt that human sex trafficking is one of today’s most abhorrent crimes and sadly is a growing problem throughout the world. So by choosing to write a fictional thriller have I tried to make money out of other people’s suffering?
I was keen to write about this subject for the very reason it is a terrible crime and I hoped that in some small way, shedding further light on the subject helps grow awareness. My book could have been darker and I have chosen a girl as the central character, who deals far better with her circumstances than would ninety nine per cent of girls faced with the same terrible circumstances. She ultimately escapes being trafficked, which very few girls will do in real life so perhaps the story is not a realistic representation of the grim reality most girls face. I certainly wouldn’t want to trivialise something grave but I believe I have license to portray the character who may only represent one per cent of girls if I so choose.
I do feel authors have a responsibility to our subject and that is to be generally factually correct so as not to mislead our readers but it is a fine line as we are by definition writing fiction! Personally, I see my main responsibility as to entertain my readers and perhaps educate a little.
I have given quite a bit of thought to the critical reviews and whether I am guilty of taking advantage of other people’s suffering. On reflection, I believe most of us who write crime thrillers are inevitably constructing stories around terrible crimes, which for some people will have a very personal resonance. A story about a family murder; a chilling story about terrorism or drugs; a story about abuse; are I believe no different to my story about sex trafficking but I do have a biased view!
In the end, reading is for most people a very subjective experience and what one person loves another will hate. Even with the same subject matter, it will often be a case of how the author handles a sensitive subject as to whether the reader has an enjoyable experience or not.
I wondered if anyone else has faced the dilemma of how to cover a controversial subject matter? Are there subjects we should stay away from because they are simply too raw? I would be interested in your views.
