I am not sure if this will be a silly question, but a story I will be writing soon has a very abusive theme, which I obviously want to approach with some sensitivity, so I was wondering if anyone else has written physical, mental or sexual abuse in to their stories and how they went about it as I do not want to come across as insensitive :)
Sorry Victoria
I meant to say that I think you're right to just tell it and let the reader draw their own conclusions about how horrible it is. I also think it's important to let your writing of a violent scene and your character's reaction to the violence reflect their true nature.
Hello Victoria
Abuse is a theme running throughout the book I just finished. It deeply affects the youngest sister and it is one of the demons that she has to overthrow. The abuse that she and her sister go through is recalled and told in an age appropriate voice as she matures through the book. I didn't want to make it nice or sugar coat it. Is that possible with abuse? I just told it the way a child her age would tell it. That's what I've aimed for anyway. She's not a sentimental or self pitying character. That doesn't mean she is unaffected by it, but she almost becomes detached from it - like a lot of children who suffer abuse do.
I have written some very graphic bits of violence in my book and one of my characters suffered very serious abuse as a child. My mother told me about a book that she read with a very violent and apparently unessercary scene. When he writer was interviewed about it she said evey word is there for a reason.
I think that you have to really think about the target audience of your piece when it comes to violence and how sensitive you need to be.