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'Forcing' Your Thinking in Stories?


  • Trendster
    Oct 23 12:51 AM
    Reply
    Well, everyone develops opinions about many things, people, places, etc. Surroundings, upbringing, interests, communities, etc, are the prime factors behind these opinions and mindsets. These opinions are not always right or wrong....our thinking is a complex mixture...

    So, as a writer after we think a story plot we have to develop scenes, events, characters, which compliment our story idea. In this developing stage we sometimes 'force' our thinking and prove it right by our means...after all we are writers we can prove what we think is right...he he. As story is one way media we can't get instant reply on our write-ups and the reviews generally focus on overall story.

    My questions -

    # - Is it right to give a flavor of our thinking in our stories?

    # - Is this thing unethical?

    # - What's your frequency of including your opinions in your stories, poems, that are not related to the basic idea of that creation? (Always/Never/Often/Sometimes).

    Mine is sometimes.

  • wolfcub
    October 23 ↑
    Reply
    If you write from your own viewpoint, it is easy to do. If you write from another's viewpoint, you may come under attack for it - if you write something homophobic, gay people will think that's YOUR opinion. If you write about incest, people will think YOU agree with it (problem I'm having atm!)
    Generally I don't put my views across in my writing. I may have a character who represents my views, but I will have another, who is always fun to write, and normally the more credible, who reputes these views. I had great fun writing a homophobic speech a year or so ago, and I'm bi!
    It depends what the purpose of your story is - your own entertainment, do what you want. To get published, keep the views closest to that of other people. To make people think...try a different perspective.

  • lexy3643
    October 23 ↑
    Reply
    well when i write stories what i tend to do is make a character that is like me or a character that i want to be and i express views based on the character. eg: in one of my stories i have a girl that hates being looked after, she's an independant girl and hates men treating her like glass. which is sometimes how i feel. however another character i've used in another story is pretty sick in the head which i despise so it really depends on the intention of the story and characters and which views they represent.
    so no i don't think its bias but it can be unethical depending on what views you put in and in answer to your third question: somtimes.

  • Marta
    October 23 ↑
    Reply
    Your view either for or against will come out through your writing, whether or not you say what it is simply because you have chosen to write about the subject.

    Your characters and events that take place in the story is more telling than you know.

    How others read a story may or may not be relevant. I write for myself and share with others.

    They can feel free to agree or disagree with what I have written, that is up to them.

    Not all my characters share my beliefs in religion, politics nor life in general.

    I flavor my stories with my own thinking most of the time, and my characters' point of views sometimes.

    I can't force my way of thinking on anyone else, I can try to persuade or make a good argument for what I believe, but no one can really force another person to believe what he or she believes. Free will doesn't allow for it.

    Is it unethical? Not at all.

  • Valkyrie
    October 23 ↑
    Reply
    I think one of the first uses for writing was to share one's opinion with others. Cave paintings, Greek philosophy, etc.

    Over time, we've evolved fiction writing, which can be made to push boundaries and present the world in a new and challenging light.

    To me, as Marta said, your opinion (or what others perceive as your opinion) will come through depending on how you treat the issues in your book. If you have someone kill, say, a preacher, and at the end of the book he gets away with it, readers might think you're anti-religious. Or from wolfcub's example, if you have an incestuous couple that gets accepted by their community, you'd be seen as supporting incest by some readers. Having a topic in your book isn't the same as how you handle it. If your preacher-killer was killed by vigilante justice, or arrested peacefully by the cops, or if your incest couple is attacked, or splits under pressure from within or from without, it all says different things. It becomes part of the book's message.

  • the back row
    October 25 ↑
    Reply
    Writing isn't always to entertain.

    Think of the books they made/make you read in English class. Lord of the Flies, for example. Golding's opinion was that all men are inherently evil when left to their own devices. This was a theme in the novel, as well. Most any theme in a book is based on an author's belief. JK Rowling believes in the power of love, and so does her protagonist.

    However, overly preachy stories make me want to gag myself with a spoon.

  • Skip454
    October 26 ↑
    Reply
    You are you. It will show nomatter how hard you try to hide it BUT if you are writng to make money then you must consider the largest group of people you wish to capture. Be it to inform or entertain and write to what THEY wish to read.

    If you write to express yourself and money be damned you may be surprised when othrs still want to read what you say. Will never be as many but...
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