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I've been told I have a thing for bringing up issues in my writing that many people might consider touchy. Personally, I don't care--what I write is for the story, and removing some of those unpleasant themes or ideas would be detrimental to the characters and plot.

I'm wondering if any of you have those ideas that come through that might come up as touchy, and if you do, how you keep them from being obnoxiously overbearing.

And I realize this might not be terribly clear--I've lost my mind this week--so let me give you an example.

Racism.

It's absolutely everywhere in my book. People from one country despise those from another. This is due to the differences in beliefs and cultural norms, as well as physical differences like skin and eye color. But the persecution people face in different countries can range from dirty looks to slurs to stonings. Slavery is also an issue, and mages are persecuted simply for having magic. There are also things like physical and mental abuse, promiscuity and rape. There's even mention of incest. You see where I'm going with this?

I guess you could also call them writing taboos, kind of.

So, just to restate;

-What Nasty-Not-Niceties do you find yourself touching upon in your writing?
-Are they central themes to your work, or is it just something that came up?
-Is it a natural occurrence in the world in which your story is set?
-Does it feel overbearing? If not, how do you keep it from being overbearing?
-How do you think this will affect the audience for which you're writing for?

-What Nasty-Not-Niceties do you find yourself touching upon in your writing?

I am fond of torture and sado-masochism (non-sexually). I seriously have a race of demons who are pain/nightmare fetishists, and it does get touched up on in sexual territory. There are other creatures who use pain in their cultures, usually as a form of dominance (example: werewolves follow actual wolf rituals and fight for/to keep power).

Racism, kind of. More like humans vs. monsters, and I try to balance both sides. As with KaNugget's example, if I have a self-righteous hunter who thinks all monsters are BAD, BAD, BAD, I have another who is level-headed and only targets the monsters that are actively doing harm to humans. On the other side, I have monsters who kill hunters for sport, and others who just want to be left alone in peace.

Child abuse and its affects is another favorite of mine, along with families that flat-out hate each other.

-Are they central themes to your work, or is it just something that came up?

The racism one, yes. The rest...they kind of crop up based on my characters and what my story needs.

-Is it a natural occurrence in the world in which your story is set?

Yes. I may be fond of the stuff I write, but I always make sure it has a place.

-Does it feel overbearing? If not, how do you keep it from being overbearing?

I would not think so. I make sure that for all the darkness in my story, I have even a glimmer of light to break it up. I like comic relief, and I like showing that for all the bad things that happen, good things happen too.

-How do you think this will affect the audience for which you're writing for?

My goal is to show that I understand the subject matter I write about, and that my audience will be smart enough to get the themes from the story. Considering my target audience has probably read dark material before, I do not think it will effect them in any other way except getting a good story.

Thanks. ^^ I admit that I do use a lot of things that I, personally, like, but as I said, I only put it in the story if it works.

I learned a long time ago to not worry about offending anyone. You cannot please everyone, and people are going to see what they want to see in a story (example: religious fanatics who burn Harry Potter books. Despite them, ironically, having themes that Christians would love. And I say this as a religious person).

Just write your story. Most people are reasonable enough to see that what you write is what works for the story and not what you believe yourself. For me, I use what works. I do have an evil character who happens to be an open homosexual. Does this mean I think all homosexuals are bad? No, considering I have one or two that are openly bi, and some who are straight, but in another universe, I could easily see them as gay. The only reason he is not currently in my work is because there is no place for him to be useful. And the bis are only "out" because their sexuality has some importance to the plot. And not even with just sexuality, but things like a minority race, or throwing in a character of a certain gender. If there is no reason to put it in/mention it, I ignore it. Plain and simple.

Honestly, most people will tell you that it is actually more offensive to have a token gay/minority/woman/whatever for the sake of having one as opposed to having a gay/minority/woman/whatever that just happens to be a gay/minority/woman/whatever and it just works. Same thing applies with using tropes like murder and rape for shock value. If it serves a purpose, awesome. If not, get rid of it. Plain and simple.

I touched on racism between two magical races? I also write homosexuality, which isn't the most open thing you talk about. The amount of times people have asked me what I write... I simply say, you don't want to know or fantasy. Then my friend will pop up and reveal all...which causes the person to splutter and give me a weird look. Damn him haha.

I touch upon all types of taboos.

Hmmmm that is a touchy subject ahaha. See, over here in England, 16 is perfectly legal to go out and have sex to your hearts content hahaha. So...that isn't that shocking to us Brits, especially when we constantly deal with people in school about 14 dropping out to have children. Ugh.

Desert: I live in the US, where in some states, a teenage boy can get charged with statutory rape if he is sixteen-eighteen (whatever the legal age is) and his girlfriend is just a little younger. Also, the above-mentioned double-standard. It is especially common with teachers banging students: if the teacher is female, it is a score, but if he is male, he gets strung by his toes.

God bless America...

11inda: True, people are going to be offended about certain things no matter what, but I do find it interesting to see how people tackle issues that normally push a lot of people's buttons.

Honestly, as a religious person, I see nothing wrong with that. Sure, God will help you, but I still believe there are some things you need to do for yourself. Be it God/the diety of your choice, fate, parents, etc., eventually you have to get through life without someone/thing [figuratively and literally] holding you hand all of the time.

I am of the opinion that given with how many brats and idiots out there have kids, that there should be a license to parent, personally. We have to have licenses for guns, cars, certain pets, etc. Why not one for the most important thing anyone could ever do? I also think that since paternity fraud is becoming a big issue, that if it gets any worse, paternity tests right at birth. That makes sure the courts go after the right man for child support (and leaves a man who is not biologically related the option of choosing whether or not to support the kid if his wife/girlfriend cheated). Women who did not cheat have nothing to hide.

What is funny is my roommate once posted the license thing in the Lifestyle Discussion, and this one person (not going to say who, but let me just say that from their posts, it might be better if she never reproduced) responded to it with, "I do not think there should be one, because I don't think I'll pass."

Exactly.

-What Nasty-Not-Niceties do you find yourself touching upon in your writing?

Well, homosexuality and bisexuality are big ones which often earn me funny or nasty looks. There's also prejudice, slavery, rape, genocide, *****, polygamy, and a little religion.

-Are they central themes to your work, or is it just something that came up?

I try not to turn my writing into a soapbox, but I do try to incorporate subtle themes of tolerance, usually by pointing out how stupid prejudice is.

-Is it a natural occurrence in the world in which your story is set?

Yes. I write sci-fantasy, so I have many worlds to work with, and most of them are as accepting of homo- and bi-sexuality as they are of heterosexuality. Many people have a husband and a wife. They discriminate against 'aliens', people born on other worlds. Due to there being vampires, mages, and demons in the universe, all of which may not be the same age that they look, someone may appear fourteen but really be four hundred.

-Does it feel overbearing? If not, how do you keep it from being overbearing?

I don't think it's overbearing. It's just the way things are. Since it's the point of the story and I'm not trying to beat the reader over the head with it, I think it's just background, worldbuilding information, so it doesn't become overbearing.

-How do you think this will affect the audience for which you're writing for?

They enjoy it. I write for an audience who likes many of these taboos, especially slavery and BDSM. Those are big in gay erotica, lol.