Friday, May 1, 2009

What You Won't Write

While laying in bed, trying to grab a quick nap a short while ago, my mind was doing its usual thing and running through story ideas. I began thinking about subjects and or themes that I do not ever intend to write about, either within the boundaries of the horror field or speculative fiction overall. Here are two of mine.

1. Violence towards dogs. I love dogs. I enjoy the company of canines over that of most people, even members of my own family. I have always hated it when reading a book or watching a movie, a dog gets killed unnecessarily, either by some wacko killer or by the monster at large. I get that the threat has to be shown and even understand why authors do it, but I'm not fond of it. I have no problem when the death involves some sort of evil dog that represents a threat (like those zombie dogs in the Resident Evil flicks), but I do not ever plan on writing a scene where a dog is murdered. Canine deaths may occur within the story, but they will always happen "off screen." I just don't want to write about a dog (and/or most animals) being killed.

2. Zombies. I love zombie movies. I love zombie novels and stories. However, I don't plan on ever attempting to author one myself. I just feel that I could never hope to bring anything new to what is in my opinion, an already limited subgenre. I did write one short story that was centered around zombies, but those shambling dudes who smell real bad never really showed up in the story. That being said, because I love zombies so much, the idea of writing a zombie story sounds really fun. I do have an idea for a zombie tale and may use that as my first NaNoWriMo project later this year, but I would view it as an exercise only and would never try submitting it.

What topics are taboo at your keyboard?

8 comments:

Fox Lee said...

1. Dogs (same reason as you)

2. Anything overly religious/spiritual. I don't care what characters do, and prefer to encounter a variety of beliefs and opinions in fiction. Nor do I care if I can tell where the author stands, as long as I'm not being beaten over the head. However, there is a line that, if crossed, can make readers feel judged and/or alienated.

3. Hard Sci-fi. If I even tried, the result would be the literary equivalent of two trains full of liquified human waste colliding.

Jamie Eyberg said...

Feminine Hygiene- I know nothing about it, nor do I want to.

Josh Reynolds said...

1. Animals being hurt
2. Kids being hurt

Can't stand either one in real life, can't do it in fiction. I gave it a shot when I wrote a story about Laika, the Russian space dog and I was bawling by the end.

Sue me, I'm a wuss.

K.C. Shaw said...

1. Dogs (and other animals) being hurt, same as you.
2. A main character who betrays someone they care about. I might skirt around it by having events play out so that the main character thinks he/she's betrayed someone and they can angst about it, but really they haven't. I don't know why it bothers me so much. My main characters tend to be intensely loyal; I suspect that's something that's very important to me, so much so that I can't go against it even to make a plot stronger. In fact, a lot of my novels explore the ideas of belonging and loyalties.

Benjamin Solah said...

Wow, I don't know if I have anything I wouldn't write about. There's plenty of things I find objectionable but I love to write about those things to expose why I find them so objectionable.

...aside from that I might avoid erotica. I suck at it.

Unknown said...

hi jameson! i don't think i've commented on ur blog, so i felt like introducing myself.

i used to say i would never write about zombies, but then i wrote three zombie stories in a row. though now i think my zombie well is dry.

to jamie - ditto. only i am a woman so i do know a little something. but still. no.

Jameson T. Caine said...

Hi, Horror Girl. Thanks for stopping by!

Jamie - I have four older sisters. I know more about it than I ever wanted to know.

Anonymous said...

I'm like you, but replace dogs with cats. I threw a book in the trash and cried once because of a graphic description of a cat's death in a book once. I know it's pretend, but I can't deal with it.

Also wanted to say I'm glad you brought the B Movie Graveyard back!