Writing About Difficult Topics

Stories are not easy to write. They require time, plots, characters, goals, and so much more. But the thing that I think is one of the hardest parts is writing about difficult things. Death, bad things, topics close to your heart, and all that. These things aren't easy to write about. So in this post I'll give you some tips to help you through that process.

Let it hurt

When you're writing something that's hard to write, it's probably because it's something that's personal to you. Whether it affect you personally or someone you know, once something becomes personal, it's a lot harder to face. But let it hurt to write, and here's why.

When something hurts you to write, that pain is translated into the story and readers will be able to feel it as well as you did. Or that's the goal, anyway. Don't shy away from the pain, instead, embrace it. And when you're done, have some chocolate and watch or read something to cheer yourself up.

Take your time

Writing about hard things takes more thought than writing something easy. So it's perfectly fine if it takes you a lot longer to write a difficult scene. Go slow and let the words come as they want to. Don't force them out. Just writing this post took me while, as I was trying to figure the right things to say.

Even if you sit staring at the page thinking of what to write for a while, that's all right. In fact, what you say will probably be even better because you let your mind roll it around a bit before you wrote it down. Brainstorming and working through it in your mind is a great practice. No matter how long it might take you to write, you'll get through it.

Know what you're talking about

Even if you've never experienced what you're writing about, you should take time to understand it. Research, talk to people, do whatever you need to to help your writing come to life on the page.

For example, I wrote a story about a former teen mom because I wanted to write a story about the power of forgiveness. It wasn't an easy story to write and to be honest, I haven't looked at it since I wrote it because I'm a little afraid it won't be what I wanted. But I'm planning on changing that this year. But the point is, I did plenty of research on what I was writing to hopefully give my story a real feeling.

Make yourself cry

Especially if you're writing a scene that's supposed to make readers cry. Turn on some sad music and write away. If you can make yourself cry while doing it, like during an emotional death scene, then most likely your readers will cry too.

Death scenes can be some of the hardest to write, particularly when it's supposed to make people sad. Like in the above mentioned story, her beloved grandmother died and I cried my way through that one. And that was even before I lost my own grandmother. (Editing that is going to be "fun".) Just remember that deaths in fiction shouldn't be used lightly (something I plan on making a post about).

Don't forget it is a story

Stories are powerful because they show us more about ourselves. They make us laugh, cry, and realize truths about the world we didn't see before. Or at least they're supposed to. No matter how hard a story may be to write, how many rounds of editing it takes to say what you want to say, it doesn't have to affect you forever. This too shall pass.

Don't forget to cheer yourself up after writing something sad. Eat your favorite food, go out with your friends, laugh about something. Even people who write dark stories say they need something to get themselves out of the place they go to while writing. Don't forget to take care of yourself first and foremost.

Let's talk! What's the most difficult thing you've ever written? Do you have any tips for writing hard things? Tell me in the comments.

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