I'm writing a mythology based story/novella and I know all the major plot point and the end that makes the most sense. However, due to touchy subject matter, I'm actually worried about offending too many people with the 'logical conclusion'. I've tried to think of other endings and they just don't seem to work as well as the one in mind. But I also don't want to be torch and pitchforked. What should I do?
Basically, Yahweh is a sophomoric, vengeful, spoiled, murderous jerk. Or possibly mentally disabled. Regardless, he's the bad guy. There is no Devil, only God. You see my delema.
Hardly. Plenty of critically acclaimed works have portrayed God in a less-than-flattering fashion. Consider the His Dark Materials book series, or Garth Ennis' underground sensation comic book series, "Preacher." Even the film "Dogma," a film that was both reverent and irreverent to its source material, shows that God/Alanis Morisette, despite her noble tendencies, cannot resist coming down to Earth every now and then to play a few rounds of skee ball--the very weakness that caused the plot of "Dogma" to happen in the first place. Chances are most religious readers will just think to themselves, "Well, he's not writing about my god."
lol People always write God out to be some jerk. Piece of advice, if you want Christians to read, don't make God out like that. If you don't care about them reading, then why would you care about them being offended?
I wouldn't worry about it. Having Yahweh as the bad guy is a concept that's been around for thousands of years (see Gnosticism), so I think you'll be ok.
What you want to do is ignore the fact you may offend people. Are you writing for others or are you writing for yourself? There will always be some people who dislike things. Look at the Harry Potter series. There have definitely been some people complaining that it advocates witchcraft.
seems to me you're making too much of a non-issue... you sure won't be the first by far... and won't be the last... so stop worrying about it and just write the darn thing!
Hell, there are successful writers who thrive on annoying and offending readers. Of course, if that's all they accomplish, they won't become very successful, so they must be delivering something to the reader that offsets the negative reactions.
Nearly everything is offensive to someone. You might as well not worry when it comes to stories. I once read a book that had lots of racist behaviour in it, but that happened to be the realistic behaviour of the characters. It doesn't mean that the writer agreed with the characters, which he didn't. It means that he cared more about writing the best story possible than the off chance that a few people might be upset by it.
100% True. Controversy and offensive content sell very very well. You know how the Da Vinci Code sold? First a few people bought it, then the word about it's content went around. Christians started hearing about and were like "what?" Then all the christians read the book and decided to ignore it afterwards and then everyone else bought the book to see what all the christians were up in arms about. It's the freest form of advertising there is . I'm christian and I' sure I'd be offended if I read a story like that but you know what? That's just my group and frankly a lot of us would probably buy and read it anyway just to see what everyone was talking about (curiosity rulz XD). I may not like it other people may not like it but in the end why should you care? You're writing a story and if that's the most satisfactory ending you can find well that's that. I've seen dozens of endings I've hated but about 50% of the time I figure I wouldn't have been more satisfied with other options and left it be. Write your story and worry about the rest later. Either it works out or it doesn't.
You won't be the first, nor the last, to write about God or Yahweh in a negative light. The dichotomy the good nature of God vs the bad nature of God (see the Old and New Testaments of the Bible for good examples) is a common, much-discussed, much-debated, and very interesting line of thinking. But, consider your audience. Who do you want to read the book? If you're looking to make Christians your prime market, reconsider. If you don't care and just want anyone to read it, then write God any way you wish. People will read if they find the plot interesting, they won't if they aren't drawn in by your storyline. Offensiveness will be inherent in anything you ever do. If your intent as a writer is to purposefully offend and insult, walk that line carefully and know your audience. You can be a great success that way, or you can ruin your reputation depending on how you present things. But there's nothing wrong with writing an alternative conception of God, or Yahweh, or even Muhammad if that's what you're inspired to write. I'm Catholic, read the Da Vinci Code (against the directions of my priest, the nuns, the Pope, and a lot of other people), and thought it was a great crime thriller. I wasn't offended by someone taking the time to explore Catholic and Christian lore and turn the myths into a really cool story. If I took the time and energy to be offended every time someone presented God or Christians or Jews negatively I'd have had a heart attack and died ages ago from exhaustion. Write what you feel is the best story you can write, and offense be damned. People are too freaking sensitive these days about everything. They'll either read it, or they won't, so don't worry so much.
I for one wouldn't be offended by it because it is what I believe. However, you might have a hard time finding a publisher. As long as you write something the publisher thinks they can sell and make money with, you wrote something publishable.
