I don't know where to start with this
subject, but it's an important one, so I want to address it. I know
that more people are familiar with my poetry than my fiction, as
there isn't much of the latter “out there”, as yet. The fact is
that I deal with dark and controversial subjects throughout all of my
writing. I am focusing more upon my fiction here, although much of
what I say applies across the board.
Firstly, my fictional characters are
not me. They each contain facets of myself, to varying degrees, but
none are me, as such. That isn't how fiction works. Some
experiences of certain characters are heavily autobiographical, but
there will always be fictionalised aspects, and it shouldn't be
important for a reader to know what is based on my actual life
experiences, and what is not. That is not to say that readers won't,
or even shouldn't, be interested – and often, I will be happy to
clarify and share my own stories, since I am a naturally open person.
There is definitely an element of
therapy to writing for me, that is essential to my survival – to my
sanity, such as it is. I do write to explore subjects because I have
been through them myself, or been through something similar. Yet,
this is not always the case. I have had, for my writing, to research
subjects, including heroin addiction and abortion, and many others,
of which I have no direct, personal experience. Is it “depressing”,
if you like? Yes, at times. I would say it is deeply painful, and
also makes me more compassionate – and, at times, paralysed by my
own inability to fully understand, and do justice to the subjects.
The social issues won't go away by ignoring them, but
then again, is it enough that many of us attempt to write about them,
in our fiction? Isn't there more that we can and should be doing?
Sometimes it isn't easy to know what to do, but I can't close my
heart or mind to themes, to which I feel drawn. I am so restricted
by my own health and circumstances, and I don't have the answers –
only more questions, and they replay, on an endless loop, inside my
mind. I think that the best answer is that I would find it more
depressing to ignore the issues, and I don't know if I will ever
achieve what I ideally want to through my work, but I just have to
keep going.
I hope that this made at least some sense.
I hope that this made at least some sense.