blairmacg | Revising Sand - Decisions (Reply)

Well, well, well. I've been distracted lately by a sweet man. A very sweet man. The distraction looks like it'll continue for awhile longer, though my giddy giggles have--thank goodness--abated.

While working on Bears (and I truly wish I could get an entire day free to knock it out in one swell foop), I've been thinking and re-thinking the opening of Sand. I wrote the original version of the first two chapters a gazillion years ago. One scene leads up to an act of rape, which occurs off stage.

I considered keeping the sexual violence despite my fear of handling the situation and characters poorly. I have never been a victim of a violent sex crime.* But I've been blessed with a couple close friends in the last five years who have been willing to be open and blunt about their victimization, the aftermath, and their ongoing journey away from the past. I believe I can do a better job of writing that character arc now.

I considered keeping the violence without the sex. It could work for the character arc of the woman victimized. But drawing that behavioral line for the rapist will fundamentally change his character, his behaviors, and his motivations. That might not be a bad thing. It could be more interesting, actually.

And when it comes down to it, the importance of the scene is its focus on the power disparity--which doesn't need to be expressed through a violent sex act. Sure, it could be, but why? I couldn't come up with a decent answer. And that told me what I needed to know.

So I'm keeping the violence, along with the elements of imperial incest, and realigning the now-not-rapist character. I don't need the rape component to tell this story.

Thoughts? Similar experiences?

Okay. That's the big decision for this novel. I don't have to make a similar decision for another 180K words. (Then it'll be figuring out how to put forth a believable development of Stockholm Syndrome.) Alas, that doesn't mean I can dive into revisions. I might be able to drop my toes in, though.

*I have been pressured into unwanted sex, yes, but that is distinctly different. Some will put that in the same general category as rape. I don't.