I Have To Agree. I Write And Many Of My Works Are BASED Around The Complexity Of Human Nature And How

I have to agree. I write and many of my works are BASED around the complexity of human nature and how indecisive "right" and "wrong" are. I come from a Christian family and had considered writing Christian books, but ran into the same block. With Christian books there was this expectation for it to be perfect and clean and pure. It's simply unrealistic. I don't believe in completely good characters or completely bad characters. All of my characters have some flaw or another. I don't believe in a perfect world and the most gripping and intriguing stories I've read have been about people with demons and internal struggles of their own. Personaly, I think the ideology of a perfect character is, well, childish. The world is so complex. You can't put people in categories of "good" and "bad". Maybe a few, but the majority is in the smudgy grey area in between. And those are the ones I'm most interested in. How they think, how they act, how would they react in this situation? You don't know because they're not automatically going to do what's "right" or what's "wrong". They have their own ideals, instincts, and impulses. That's what makes us human and that's beautiful and interesting and I'll never stop being amazed by how complex people are as a whole.

I’m really nervous to write about this but

When I was younger, I read a lot of Christian books. In high school, I wrote a paper on Christian literature, specifically, what it is about Christian literature that makes it often flatter and less compelling than other genres. I’m not saying it all sucks, but I am saying that somehow, I’ve noticed through my life that Christian books suck more than their secular counterparts on average. I found them to often be juvenile, one-dimensional and derivative, and I didn’t think it had to be that way. I didn’t think that being Christian made a book bad, but I observed that the genre was stuffed with a lot of bad books, and the bad books were far worse than bad books outside the category. 

I’m not intending to start a discussion about Christian literature; I’m not alone in feeling this way or noticing this phenomenon if you believe it’s a thing. Online, you can read a lot of articles discussing the same thing: that Christian lit tends to be lower quality. So I wanted to know why. 

To answer the question, I looked at interviews of Christian authors and submission guidelines for Christian publishers. I wished to understand the intent behind writings in the genre and what might lead to the difference in quality. And what I found was very illuminating. 

Essentially, many Christian authors and publishers feel that: 

1. their books have a responsibility to promote morality in their readers, and authors are somewhat responsible for the moral fiber of their readers  

2. there has to be a strong delineation between “moral” and “immoral” behavior in books 

3. many topics either can’t be addressed at all or must be very clearly pointed out as “bad” if they are 

4. certain topics and ideas ought to be brought up in a book and pointed out as good as part of the purpose or meaning of the book

The conclusion I came to was that these ideas were resulting in flat, one-dimensional characters and dull plots. The responsibility of promoting moral integrity, and having to make absolutely sure that nothing you write could condone or promote immoral behavior, was of paramount importance. 

And what that caused was preachiness, one-dimensionality, a lack of compelling moral conflict, flat characters, and intellectually numbing stories. 

Why am I talking about this? 

Because a lot of the ideas I’ve been seeing spread around in writeblr and in the online writing and reading communities as a whole are identical. 

A lot of the posts I see online now about writing are almost exact echoes of the ideas I wrote about in my paper. 

Nowadays, I see posts constantly urging people to think about why they want to write their stories, and whether they are good or helpful or edifying. I see authors being slammed for not condemning characters with disgusting beliefs hard enough. I see people being dragged for liking characters that are not morally and ideologically pure. I see posts telling people to approach any difficult topic with extreme caution and crisp, unmistakable condemnation. Media is widely vilified when its fandom becomes toxic or nasty, assumed to be at fault for the moral fiber of its fans.

I see authors and publishers advertising their books as “feminist”, as if that makes any sense at all (is the author feminist? Does it just handle female characters well? Are the characters feminist? Is it focused on women’s issues?). I open a book and see poorly-integrated lines of dialogue dropping ideas about prejudice or gender that seem like a Tumblr post or part from a nonfiction book on racism inserted directly into a character’s mouth. I don’t think feminism is bad. I think feminism is great. And I don’t think talking about prejudice or gender is bad. I think these things need to be talked about. I definitely don’t think these ideas can’t be expressed in fiction. On the contrary; I think fiction is one of the best ways of expressing important ideas. 

But, I see some kind of preoccupation with the ideas your writing promotes, prominently including the idea that you must promote and you must condemn certain ideas, and that everything you write makes a statement about morality, and you’re responsible for edifying your audience and making them better people. And it’s really, really familiar. 

The conclusion that my paper came to is that you can’t clean up the reality of humanity. You can’t make the messiness of existence crisp and clear so you can feed your readers the ideas you want them to absorb bite by bite. You can’t have light without darkness, and you can’t have either without shades of gray. 

In life, racist people will not always be obviously horrible. (Even though sometimes they are…) Sometimes they will be people who love their spouses and kids and are generally “nice” and adopt dogs and love kittens, and they will still be racist. Sometimes even “good” people will say or do racist things and have to realize their mistakes and then make mistakes again and have to realize THOSE mistakes. Sometimes getting out of ideas you grew up hearing is long and difficult and you have to catch your brain repeating them even years after you tried to change. Racism can be passive, subtle, it can exist in people who are “good” in some ways. Sometimes people make progress toward changing but still have problems. How do we show this in books? Is it an author’s responsibility to solve all this and sort out everything? 

Is it racist for a racist character who is seeking redemption  to not have entirely overcome their prejudices by the end of a book? Is it the author’s responsibility to make sure racist behavior in the book is clearly labeled? Is it a reflection of the author’s views if a character says something racist? 

Note that I’m asking these questions. I’m definitely open to and would like perspectives from other people on this, people of color foremost and especially. The idea I am exploring is, does giving an author the responsibility of making sure their book clearly and unequivocally promotes certain ideas and condemns others impair them? Could it make it more difficult to address the ideas they want to? 

When I analyzed Christian literature, the conclusion I had to reach was that it does. I found christian lit as a whole to be excessively black-and-white, simplistic, shy of tackling anything with complexity, and almost dishonest about human nature. Is there an analogy in this situation? 

In life, relationships aren’t always pure and unproblematic. People don’t fall neatly into “people who have never done anything to hurt their partner” and abusers. People can sometimes have problems in their relationships and have to change their behaviors to preserve their relationships. Relationships have difficulties and arguments. Sometimes a person needs to change or become better in order to have a healthy relationship. Sometimes a relationship can be unhealthy without being abusive, and sometimes relationships are abusive. Must the author draw lines about “toxicity” and “problematicness” in super clear neon spray paint so people know the difference? 

These arguments come up about all sorts of morality-related things in books. And on some level I agree, you shouldn’t promote racism, and you should be careful and sensitive about portraying some things, but I am also extremely apprehensive about certain aspects of this culture that has sprung up. 

It’s really almost totally identical to what I noticed about Christian literature, and imo there it has done a lot of damage. I don’t really believe that authors are totally past being responsible for damage their ideas do, quite the opposite. But there is this expectation of dictating what’s bad and what’s good on a very clear level. 

That was part of the problem i noticed in Christian literature, the teaching of ideas rather than forcing readers to consider them. 

I’m not trying to talk over anybody at all, esp with things about racism, I’m white after all. And I really urge and ask my white followers and people-who-see-this-post to listen to the opinions, ideas and feelings of people of color who reply on the topic of racism. What I really want is everybody to consider this: is it an author’s job to make sure all “bad” and “good” things in their book are clearly delineated? If not, what is the best practice for an author? If not, might this cause problems? The culture I am seeing in the writeblr community seems to hold that it is, and rejection of redemption for villains, morally ambiguous situations and characters, addressing of complicated topics, and portraying anything “bad” without making absolutely certain that it’s clearly wrong is growing. 

Personally, I have a bad feeling about it. 

Thoughts? 

You stare, speechless. He’s a CHANGELING? So many secrets everywhere. It makes you question everyone you see, everyone you know. He always seemed so… Normal… Anger suddenly ignites in you. ‘Does EVERYONE have powers except me?!' You feel so small and helpless. Why the Hell do THEY get powers? Why do YOU get stuck with this stupid, weak body. You don’t get ANY powers, you get sick, just like any other human, you even had ASTHMA as a child! You can’t even REGENERATE! You have to where a stupid CHARM to keep magical illnesses away because you're SO UNMAGICAL THAT YOUR BODY CAN’T HANDLE THEM! You really want to punch the wall. But because you AREN’T STRONG LIKE EVERY OTHER PERSON IN THE WORLD it would break your hand. And since you CAN’T HEAL QUICKLY LIKE EVERY OTHER PERSON IN THE WORLD it would last for forever. That just frustrates you more and you stomp around for a while, just letting yourself be angry. Why is life so unfair? Why do YOU have to be weak? Why do YOU have to be human? Why can’t YOU turn into a fucking BIRD and just FLY over the stupid wall? Jr’s brother suddenly lands in front of you, “Let’s go.” You blink, “What? Where’s Jr? Why are you back so soon? I thought we were getting him? What’s going on?”

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! What are ya'll's special plans? Mine are work and schooling XD Hopefully I can get some writing done today too! Maybe I'll post something later ;)

Sam isn’t at school the next day. You figure he’s probably with the family, celebrating Jr’s return. You resist the urge to snort. You’re not even sure they would celebrate that. They aren’t exactly the nicest people…. But, you’re sure, at least Sam would want to celebrate it… You sigh. You’re really glad they get to reunite with each other and be happy and all that good stuff. But you’re also really bored… You didn’t realise how close you and Sam had gotten nor how much he entertained you, until he didn’t show up today. You sigh again and rest your chin in your hand. You will be happy for them and let them have their family time, but you’ll also be relieved when they’re back to entertain you….

Once you reach the edge he urges you close. You look over and gasp. There’s a huge trench right inside the wall, full of men, women, and children, presumably werewolves. The inside edges of the trench are lined with stairs and thin pathways, houses dug into the side of them. The adults are all at the bottom, digging.The dirt is loaded into carts that are taken in underground tunnels further into the city. The city itself is massive, past the trench are houses upon houses. They’re shabby and broken up, you can tell even from the height you’re at. People, the size of ants, bustle around. Most seem to be working. Some building houses, some draggin carts in and out of tunnels, Some collecting those dead or sick off the streets. Your lips twist at that sight. The middle of the city is full of farmland, better looking, though still small, houses dotted everywhere. They seem to have an abundance of food, they’re not lacking in work, why are they all dying? You decide it’s probably from overcrowding. Though the city is big, the infection is bigger. It has spread all across the world. It’s so thick, even in just the seven cities that send their wolves here, that there’s simply no room. Streets are small, houses crammed everywhere, new ones constantly being built, and children are continuously being born. With a city so big, it simply would be unrealistic to think no one would have kids and, unfortunately, some species of werewolves have litters. Children run everywhere, playing, working, and dying. Even with them being so small, you can see their bad condition. Their clothes are poor too. Almost all of the children are naked, and some of the adults. Those who do have clothes look as though they’ve been wearing the clothes they were brought in since they got there, have hand made clothes, or have rags that barely cover them. You squint and lean further out, struggling to see. Are they all… Starving? You jerk back and look at Jr. He’s watching you. You point out to the farms, “They have an abundance of food! Why are they so thin?” Jr sighs, “The food isn’t for them. They’re given rations according to where they work. All the food they grow is shipped out and sold. They’re given the leftover. The stuff no one wants.” Your lips twist, “I don’t believe you.”

You have to go to school with Jr's brother the very next day. It's too soon. You're not ready yet... He’s worried. Of course he is… “Do you know where Jr is?” You want to tell him, you do, but you can’t speak. You just stare at him, mouth glued shut. His eyes widen, face filling with dread, “What happened? Where is he? Is he hurt? Talk to me!” You’ve never seen him raise his voice like this. He’s always been quiet, reserved, and shy. Tears stream down your cheeks, unwanted. His face drains of color, “What happened?” You finally find your voice, and whisper, “Did you- Did you know… Jr’s a werewolf? Of course you did… You’re his brother…” He lets out an audible gasp, then grabs you, “Where is he?! Please don’t tell me he got-” He can’t finish the sentence. You lower your head. It’s your fault he got caught. If you had just refused to go. If you hadn’t felt the need to confront him in the first place… His brother turns, grabbing his hair, “FUCK!” You cover your face, shame filling you. You should have done more. You were so afraid. You just sat, frozen. You didn’t even fight for him… ‘What would be the point?’, a voice whispers in your ear, ‘you’re weak. You have no power. You would have lost, been thrown in jail, and Jr would still be taken. Then you wouldn’t be able to come and warn his brother…’ You look at his brother, pacing, pulling on his own hair, tears welled in his eyes. ‘Why am I warning him? If he’s a werewolf too, then he’s a monster… His disease almost wiped out… Well… The world… They need to be contained…’ But watching him pace, looking so distressed, seeing how worried he is, thinking of everything you’ve done with them, the conversations, hanging out, you can’t believe that. Jr may have been a jerk, and maybe, POSSIBLY had it in him to be a monster. But his brother? He can’t even look a stranger in the eye. You saw him step on a caterpillar and get so sad at school. He's the softest, most innocent person you’ve ever met. He doesn’t have it in him to be a monster… ‘They can’t control themselves. When they turn, they don’t remember that…’ But Jr had seemed SO HUMAN… And some animals are gentle…. You look at the ground, unable to say any words of comfort. There are none. Jr is gone, and it’s your fault. You wipe away your tears furiously and walk to school. You’ll think of something to get him out…