I would like to address this post to my fellow Mormon readers.
A couple of days ago, I got a discouraging message from some old mission friends of mine. It said, more or less: “who would have thought that the missionary that taught us the gospel would write such a lurid book?” They were referring to my latest release, Sholpan.
To be honest, it’s been very difficult for me to publish it, because I knew that this sort of thing would happen. I worry that my friends and family will think that I’ve done something inappropriate, or violated some moral standard, or made myself unworthy in some way. It’s very difficult to put your writing out there under normal circumstances, much less with complications like these.
However, I would like you to know that I have prayed about this, and that the answer I’ve received is that this is a story worth telling.
Sholpan is about a girl who lives essentially LDS moral standards and falls into what may be the worst situation any of us could imagine for such a girl: slavery in the harem of a powerful warlord who has the power not only to rape her, but to kill her. By refusing to compromise her values–and risking death to do so–she makes friends in unexpected places and gains a whole lot more power than she ever would have if she’d taken the easy path and compromised.
In other words, it’s a little bit like the story of Esther. Yes, there are sexual themes, but they aren’t there to be gratuitous or titillating; they’re there to show that even in the face of such horrible immorality, you don’t have to compromise your values.
I know this kind of story isn’t for everyone, which is why I’ve put up warnings in the book descriptions and made it abundantly clear that this book has adult content. And if you decide you don’t want to read it, I won’t be offended at all. But please, don’t assume that I’ve gone off the deep end or betrayed my faith, because that’s not the case at all.
It’s a difficult position to be in; I’m sure that Stephanie Meyer’s and Orson Scott Card’s bishops get a lot of mail from fellow Latter-day Saints who feel that they ought to be excommunicated. But these are the kinds of stories that I feel driven to write: stories that address difficult moral issues and don’t shy away from portraying evil for what it really is.
I appreciate your concern on my behalf, but my faith and spirituality are still quite strong. You may or may not believe that after reading my books, but please don’t feel like you have to save me. The best thing you can do is continue to be a positive influence, and let me be a positive influence for you.
I’m proud of you Joe. Hard stories need told as well, anything less would be dishonest.
I’ve had the same problem with my stories sometimes too. For the longest time, I was afraid to show anybody what I wrote or let anyone that I was even writing. It was silly back then cause I was thirteen and only writing really terrible Buffy fanfiction. But I didn’t want anyone to know that I was writing stuff about demons and hell and stuff. Most retarded story I know. But I’m actually writing a story right now that deals with that kind of thing – what constitutes as moral art and how it’s portrayed. From your description of the novel, it sounds fine to me.
Hey, thanks Ben. I agree and appreciate the support!
I know how you feel, Caitlin: it can be the most frightening thing in the world to share your writing with people who might not appreciate it. With test readers, at least you get to select who sees it and who doesn’t–and everyone knows that it’s just a draft, so the story might change based on the feedback. But putting your finished work out where the whole world can see it–that’s scary! But if the story is worth telling, you shouldn’t let that stop you. So don’t!
I respect the dedication you’ve clearly put into your work. I follow both your blog and twitter feed and admire the amount of effort you expend on your career. You are going to go far to the world of literature.
At the same time, in my personal opinion, it seems you (and Ben) have conflated subject matter with writing style. A “hard story” or a “story worth telling” does not equate with “gritty writing,” “dirty scenes,” or “explicit language.” (Those are in quotes because I know they are very subjective.)
In fact, I would suggest the opposite: the best stories of all time have a surprisingly mild approach. My favorite story of all time is “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Rape, murder, racisim, child abuse–and yet it’s approached very appropriately and is incredibly powerful as a result.
For my own personal reasons, I don’t plan on reading Sholpan and I know you respect that, so I have no intention of passing any sort of judgment on whether your story approaches the topic its addressing “appropriately” or not. The only point I would make is that if a variety of friends who do read it are raising warning flags, you might want to take a second look at the premises behind the writing style you’ve chosen.
Good luck with everything!
I’ve never had anybody say that (though my father-in-law mentioned Rook’s chapters in Effulgent Corruption were “hard to get through”), which is weird because most people who read my stuff I’d consider extremely conservative. 😛
It’s hard to say. Like you I just write what the story directs. Sometimes it’s things that are uncomfortable. But just because something doesn’t sit will doesn’t mean it can’t be approached tactfully and still work out. I feel any subject can be made “appropriate” if it is presented tastefully enough.
I suppose some people have argued as to WHY I’d want to write about particular things, regardless of whether or not I presented it tactfully. I suppose it’s because real life isn’t happy. Awful things happen, and that adds a real, human element to a story. Sure I could tone it down to a PG rating, but the connection wouldn’t be there. Sometimes extreme situations elicit extreme emotional responses in a reader, and that’s what I want.
Plus all my friends/readers/relatives know that I just write whatever I want, so I think they’ve given up. My mother-in-law won’t read most of the stuff I write, but she has never said anything negative towards me about the content (she just admits it’s probably something she wouldn’t enjoy).
For the record, I think you’re spot-on, Joseph. Granted, my take on appropriate writing standards are probably much more liberal than that of most LDS readers, but I would think that even within the doctrines of the church you have nothing to worry about.
In the first place, strictly speaking there is almost no actual doctrinal instruction on limitations of reading or writing fiction. Even general suggestions to youth to seek after “uplifting” or “inspiring” leave the choice as subjective (after all, if a work of fiction is uplifting and inspiring while describing sex and violence, so be it!)
You’re just dealing with people who can’t distinguish between natural revulsion to cultural taboos of nudity and sexuality and the word of God.
O.o…
Good luck. I have nothing to add to this discussion.
I don’t know if I’ve ever thanked you for adding the content warning to your work. If I haven’t yet–then thanks. People have various tolerance levels to things like this, and I know my own tolerance level has changed dramatically in the last five years.
On one hand – If someone reads your work despite the content warning and then gets upset with you for writing it, it seems to me they put their “fate” into their own hands and they have no right to be upset with you about it. You’ve done your part to give them fair warning.
On the other – I agree with “Drek”. The Bible would/could be rated R for all its content (ritual rape, seduction, incest, violence, animal & human sacrifice, harems, genocide, etc.), but it’s not the content itself but the presentation of the stories and the uplifting point of view that makes it inspiring. Such an interesting balance to seek.
And one last tidbit to consider – I am glad that you’ve taken this up with God as a matter of discussion and decision. I, too, do this. I can’t claim to be an expert in getting clear responses. Life seems to be like flailing about in the middle of the ocean, anyway, struggling for a clear direction back to shore. But I have one particular story I feel strongly I shouldn’t try to publish, for content and other behind-the-scenes reasons I won’t go into here. I keep it listed in my Storybox, anyway. As a reminder just to myself. The story was worth it. To me. Worth writing, that is. But not worth sharing with the general public. Before that story, I didn’t really think there was a difference between the two, writing and sharing. Food for thought, in case it ever happens to you.
Hey thanks guys! I really appreciate it. Your comments are very encouraging and thought provoking. I’ll definitely keep them in mind as I figure out what to do with the next stories I’ll write.
And thank you for your response to the variety of opinions. I admire the way you respond to criticism.
Heh, if I ever stopped listening to genuinely helpful criticism, my career would have a very short lifespan indeed. Thanks.
I came over from Micheal’s blog. The thing I appreciate about the writers on my network is that they can separate the storytelling from the writer. I write about subjects such as adultery, however, it is not meant to glorify wrongdoing, but shows the disastrous results in a way that is non-preachy.
Yeah, there’s an interesting tension between accurately portraying evil and glorifying evil. One of the bloggers on the tour asked me to discuss that, so I’ll be sharing my thoughts on that subject a little later in the month.
I’m not sure “accurately portraying evil” is an acceptable rationale to use from a moral standpoint. After all, you can accurately portray a steamy sex scene. Far from having an inherent tension or being mutually exclusive, accurately portraying something and “glorifying” something seem independent of each other. One is objective, the other is subjective.
To use an example closer to home: describing the color of a girl’s nipples after she gets out of deep freeze. Is it an accurate description? Sure. Is it titillating and unnecessary? Each of your readers will decide that for themselves. But at the end of the day that’s irrelevant. The only person who’s belief really matters is your own. You’re the only person who knows how well you live up to your moral code, or how well your personal moral code aligns with the standards of the church.
Out of curiosity, what do you personally use as your dividing line when determining which material to use and which to exclude? I’d be interested in a blog post on that, since I face the same conundrums when I write and I’m sure a lot of other Mormon authors do too.
I draw the line at the kind of stories that I wouldn’t want to read, but that’s a pretty changeable and subjective line. I do have some hard and fast standards, though: I don’t use the g-d word, I don’t use the name of Christ as a curse or a swear, and I don’t ever show the actual act of sex on the page.
By “accurately portraying evil,” I mean acknowledging evil for what it really is. If you can do that right, I don’t think it’s possible to glorify it, because when we see things as they really are, it draws us to that which is good and repulses us from that which is wrong.
In other words, I suppose you could say that my highest goal in writing is to be truthful. As for what that entails, I’m sure we’ll be discussing it in much greater depth in a couple of weeks.