I'm writing a sequel to Creep. It's called Spiral. It's about a young man named Matthew suffered from sexual abuse at the hand of his older sister Kelly when they were children. She was 7 and he was 4. It ended when she was 12 and it ended when he was 9. His father abandoned them. Her sister told him to keep quiet. He found out that she was sexually abused along with her friend by a neighbor's teenage son. He has to attend family gatherings when she is there. He discovers she passed away and his mother plans her funeral and he expected to attend, but feels unsure. He is unaware that females can be predators. The only thing he wants is to be heard. Any advice or opinions.
Our opinions of a general idea don't really matter at this stage. What will matter is what emerges—once you've actually written the story—in terms of your theme and attitude. What is it that you want to say about this situation? That's where you begin, really. I have a similar situation in my novel, so this isn't me giving you a callous view of the situation. I had to explore my character's feelings about what happened to him, and what the aftermath of the situation brought him. I didn't ask for opinions beforehand—and I have absolutely no personal experience of such a situation myself. I arrived at the idea because I needed something unsolveable for my character to deal with ...something major that could only be coped with and not changed or made 'better.' And I started thinking, what would leave him so conflicted, maybe for life? It had to involve something or somebody whom he loved, or it wouldn't have the impact I needed for my story. I remember exactly where I was, walking to work, when the idea suddenly hit me. I stopped to lean against a tree while I scribbled the idea down in my notebook, so I wouldn't lose it. I still smile, when I pass that tree!
also although this thread is fine - please do remember we have a rule about no children involved in sexual activity for the workshop
also please review what you were told in your previous post about this storyhttps://www.writingforums.org/threads/writing-a-plot-about-sexual-abuse.165863/page-2 ask specific questions that you need answers to, not vague randomness
With my hat off my advice is still the same as last time do a tonne of research, then do some more read books by abuse survivors and reformed abusers potentially talk to abuser survivors read about the psyche of these people both offender and victims watch documentaries on the subject then when you've done all that you'll have some specific questions - thats the time to ask them
I really hope I am stating the obvious here, but if your intention is to publish you need to be absolutely certain that it is legal to do so in your country or justification and that this is not covered by any "obscenity" laws. It is worth checking to make sure you are on the right side of the law and not putting yourself or others at risk by writing and sharing this kind of material. Sensitively done, I can understand this may have some artistic merit exploring some very difficult and complex issues and even providing a space for victims of abuse to process those emotions as readers. But I think even the most skilled writer would struggle to avoid controversy writing this kind of material, particularly in the polarising times we live in. So I'd recommend you be careful and tread carefully whenever you bring this up with anyone.
