Research Writing A Book, Need Some Advice

[Jules0260]

Hey guys!
I'm writing a novel about a young woman who suffers from PTSD due to physical and mental abuse from her father since she was three to the time she ran away at 17 with her boyfriend. HE mother died in a car accident when Becca (the main character) was three, and her father blamed her, and beat her.

However, I have no experience with PTSD.

My goal is to have this published, and I figured who better to ask than those who experience it. What would you want to be portrayed to the world about PTSD, and what key elements of it should I include or put specific emphasis on? Any little details that would be over looked, but are just as important?

So far, I know Becca suffers from flashbacks and has suicidal thoughts. What is a flashback like, and how do you get back to real life?

I've been reading some threads and am amazed at everything you guys have to endure on a daily basis.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[The Albatross]

Perhaps you would be better served writing something that is more in line with your experience. Really presumptuous post, you're on ignore.

 

[DharmaGirl]

I would like to see the word "trigger" used correctly. There is an article by Anthony called Triggers vs. Stressors, and I would like you to read it before your character uses the word. Another good article is the Stress Cup Theory. These are both under articles on the home page. I appreciate you trying to have your character be authentic as possible. Could you make her someone who doesn't lash out, since so many of us don't? I would love you forever, which is 2 weeks in PTSD time, lol.

 

[claroscuro]

Hi Jules, welcome to the forum.

Firstly, have you done any research into PTSD beyond the basics?

I would love to see a realistic portrayal of PTSD in literature, as that can make a huge difference in awareness, and help break down those often inaccurate stereotypes that seems to be prevalent in the media. That being said, please be aware that this forum is a space where a lot of pain is laid bare, please be respectful of that, and please do not use trauma diaries for source material? Writing about our traumas and experiences can be tremendously difficult.

Since you're asking our community to help you with our experiences, it seems only fair to ask you something in return. What is your motivation for writing this novel? Why does your main character have PTSD?

What would be a realistic portrayal? That's a rabbit hole, as PTSD has a range of symptoms, and a range of ways they manifest. Our experiences with these are varied, as are our struggles.

You asked specifically about flashbacks. There are many forms of flashbacks, not just the visual "movie". It's a throwback that can involve any of your senses, on their own, or in any combination thereof, that puts you right back in the experience of a trauma. My flashbacks are predominantly emotional, though they often include auditory and sensory elements as well. How do I pull back into the here and now? I have a safe space in my mind, a memory of a time when I felt content, I work to get to that place, and focus only on that memory.

 

[ladee]

Yes, my main question is how are you going to guarantee our privacy... ??? And have you cleared this with the Administrator.. I would feel safer if she ok'd this..

 

[joeylittle]

@Jules0260 - you may want to take a look at these related threads:

Survivor Guilt Stories
Writer Looking For Info On Ptsd

Also, I'll remind you that all material on MyPTSD is owned by MyPTSD and cannot be reproduced without express permission. Thanks.

So far, I know Becca suffers from flashbacks and has suicidal thoughts. What is a flashback like, and how do you get back to real life?

Search 'grounding techniques'

Yes, my main question is how are you going to guarantee our privacy.

You're under no obligation to respond to this thread at all; and the OP has a legal prohibition against using anything you say here verbatim, in whole or part.

 

[ladee]

What a daunting task you have undertaken. We are all so unique and yet the same. We have our own 'language' so to speak.
My flashbacks are physical and emotional.. I have no memories of early childhood (from birth to 4 yrs. old) and have never recovered those memories...I have a lot of 'lost time' due to disassociation.

Could you be more specific about what you are looking for... say, like flashbacks... then when you feel you understand, go to something like 'anxiety'.... give us an outline of sorts.... this could get extremely overwhelming for you, not to mention, us.

 

[Kintsugi]

How about you don't write about PTSD? There are enough people who don't know anything about it writing it into their work. It's becoming an overused trope, and it's almost never well-represented. If you're hell bent on your character's trauma driving your theme, then you could just write about trauma. Which is totally different from writing about PTSD. And you'll get away with ignorance easier.

Look up trauma theory scholars. They think they know shit about representations of trauma in literature. Maybe they'll help (mis)guide you.

The best representations of PTSD in literature I've encountered never mention PTSD, so maybe you'll accidentally write a great representation of living with trauma while failing to include such a diagnosis explicitly in your work.

 

[Friday]

My goal is to have this published, and I figured who better to ask than those who experience it.

I first started writing for publication when I was about 14.

I learned very early on 2 things;

A)'Never bring up my age until my parents were cosigning on my contracts (let the work stand or fall on it's own. If it's good? It's good. It's not "good for a 14yo".)

B) The rules for journalistic integrity apply to fiction, if anything, even more so than nonfiction. As you're not reporting facts, nor truth, but making up stories surrounding other people's lives. This piece right here? Hardens to the #1 Rule of Fiction = Write What You Know. How you learn that information, if it's not yours to begin with? It's not something you know, but something you want to know? Is as important as how you present it.

So I'm going to hope that you've already learned lesson A, and you're somewhere between the ages of 12-16, and are about to learn lesson B.

Because who better to ask? Primary sources should NEVER be your first source.

Reporters have also been accused of indecency in the process of collecting news, namely that they are overly intrusive in the name of journalistic insensitivity. War correspondent Edward Behr recounts the story of a reporter during the Congo Crisis who walked into a crowd of Belgian evacuees and shouted, "Anyone here been raped and speaks English?"[5]

This is known as the GoldStandard of what not to do. You've just done that ^^^ You've walked into a community of people who have suffered great tragedy & traumas beyond the scope of normal human experience; & blithely started asking questions with no foundation of even minimal research to engender understanding of the issues at hand, preparation, nor sensitivity to the harm your actions may cause. If you're embarrassed by this? Good. Use that to further your own education so you don't make the same mistake again, and build both your own character & ethical bottom line.

Some baseline & beginning reading for you.

SPJ Code of Ethics | Society of Professional Journalists | Improving and protecting journalism since 1909
SPJ Ethics Committee Position Papers: Reporting on Grief, Tragedy and Victims | Society of Professional Journalists | Improving and protecting journalism since 1909

The overriding point, however, is that journalists must be responsible both in how they gather and present the information in words and photos. Stories involving grief and victims go to the heart of one of the tenets of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics: Minimize harm.

SPJ covers the ethics for the entire range of human experience. For trauma specific ethical guidance? They (and I) very strongly recommend the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma.

Dart Center
Tragedies & Journalists
Ethical Reporting on Traumatised People
The Art of Trauma Reporting: Pulitzer Prize Winners Reflect

A few other beginning resources
ISTSS - Journalism Students Learn Victim Interaction Skills Through Role-Playing
Link Removed
Dead Link Removed

 

[Justmehere]

I appreciate your sensitivity to represent PTSD well, and your desire to understand before you portray it. It's really cool you sought to connect to sufferers.

When folks post here about writing a fiction book, people usually discourage it. It does feel kind of weird to have a really hard and personal battle with a mental illness be something that someone wants to use as a plot point. Many sufferers of PTSD, myself included, are leary of it being a tool to move a story along.

The thing is, most people read fiction to be entertained and escape, and most sufferers are trying to escape PTSD and trauma because it's been the worst thing ever. Avoidance is actually a key symptom of PTSD itself. It's hard to see PTSD and trauma as something people would want to read about.

The best writers write what they know. Don't discount what you do know about life as being interesting enough on it's own. Heck, if someone is good at telling a story, a trip the the grocery store can become a captivating escape...

I'm writing a novel about a young woman who suffers from PTSD due to physical and mental Abuse from her father since she was three to the time she ran away at 17 with her boyfriend. HE mother died in a car accident when Becca (the main character) was three, and her father blamed her, and beat her.

If the goal is to be published, and this is your first book, then go light on the amount of trauma. It's really hard to write about trauma in a way that people want to keep reading about. Publishers want to sell books, and it's hard to sell stories about lots of trauma.

It may not even been necessary to the plot that she have PTSD. For example, someone doesn't have to be beaten to want to run away.

If you're hell bent on your character's trauma driving your theme, then you could just write about trauma. Which is totally different from writing about PTSD.

This is very true. Fictional books about mental illness by new authors are hard for publishers to sell and people to read, even when they are very well done.

Focus on what you know already, don't discount that experience, and keep learning. If you want to include any subject you don't know much about, the more you read about it, the better you will be able to write about it. The best writers read, read, and read some more.

 

[Jules0260]

First off, I would just like to say I am very, very sorry about anything I did or said that hurt anyone. I truly meant no harm. I would also like to ensure that I am by no means looking for any specific stories, just to get a feel of PTSD and to know if that is indeed the best route to take with my character. All points of view are very helpful.
I would like to say once again that I meant no harm in any way, shape, or form. I'm so sorry.

 

[joeylittle]

just to get a feel of PTSD and to know if that is indeed the best route to take with my character. All points of view are very helpful.

As has been suggested - all sorts of people experience trauma. Not all of them develop PTSD. That doesn't mean that the ones who don't, are fine - they have problems too.

What would you want to be portrayed to the world about PTSD, and what key elements of it should I include or put specific emphasis on?

In a work of fiction? Nothing. I just want my fiction to be engrossing, compelling, interesting. I can look to the stories of real people to hear about living with PTSD.

You aren't doing a social good if you write about something that you don't understand, and therefore can't write about well. Your lead character would have very vivid memories, and yeah, I can understand why she'd struggle with how to keep going.

Ever read The Hunger Games?

Think about how life changes a person. How the bad things in our lives change us. How we survive. You are writing about someone who has suffered, and survived. You can already imagine enough - or you wouldn't have thought of the plot foundation you have. If you wanted to write about PTSD, you'd be better off with a plot involving a psych doctor, or a lawyer dealing with a tricky criminal defense, the HS teacher who had Becca as a student... A character in the same perspective you are in - someone trying to understand an illness by crawling into the heads of those who have it.

Jurassic Park isn't about mitochondrial DNA. Split isn't about DID. Carrie isn't about child abuse. Batman isn't about PTSD. I could go on and on, and I'm sure you could too.

Just write your story. I'm not trying to put you down or insult you - I'd just like you to understand that the question you are asking isn't at all relevant.