I haven't added a word to the WIP this week due to having company, but I haven't stopped thinking about upcoming scenes. And there have been some new developments with my spawnsters, who are half human and half demon. The spawnster who ran in gangs after being thrown out by their human families when they started showing demon features got pretty tough. Not all spawnsters joined gangs and became criminals, but those who did took on some nasty habits.
Homeless spawnsters, gangs in particular, often went without food. While I was exploring my characters' backstories, these criminal gang members told me they sometimes killed humans out of desperation just to feed themselves. Makes me queasy to think about, but it also makes sense considering how oppressed these people were. A spawnster's survival instinct is very strong.
Many gang members left their criminal lives to become productive members of the Hellspawn community, but they never lost their taste for long pig, or human meat. The less savory Hellspawn dine on humans in secret.
I'm wondering now if this will be too gross and intense for readers. The story itself is not terribly dark, though there are dark themes and it has both moments of grittiness and moments of humour. That's why I'm blogging about it. Is cannabalism stepping over the line of acceptability? It will figure into the plot, have dangerous consequences, and I have an idea for turning the tables. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
3 comments:
i think it's possible to do it. but it def is very gross. my friend wrote an YA with cannibalism in it, but it was based on history. and she's going on submission soon!
i read up on it after my trip to fiji and was positively ill! yikes!
It has to be written delicately while understanding that most readers or your agent might be turned off by the aspect. I have a draft manuscript that covers cannabalism in an obscure manner. If you want to see how I handled introducing this to a reader, an example is in the tag 'flash fiction' on my blog.
Thanks, ladies, for your input. It is a bit bizarre, but I promise not to write anything graphic about cannibalism. That would be way too over the top for me. The idea itself is disturbing enough. The important thing is that it serves the story and isn't being used for shock value. That would be a cheap trick.
Barbara, I'll check out your blog.
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