I'm not afraid to admit that my prose gets violent quite often. My main conflicts are usually man v. man, so combat is the simplest solution. My literary pieces refrain from it, of course, but almost everything else at least eludes to violence.
When writing violent scenes, it's important to get the emotion right. That's really why most scenes in general are written. Either emotion is being shown creatively or a theme is being displayed. I almost never have themes, so I tend to focus on emotion. Body language is the number one indicator of emotion in third-person. You can tell a lot from characters' actions. In first person, the tone of the piece itself shows emotion.
Do you use violence as a method of bringing conflict and emotion to your fiction?
Yes. In my first book I killed off a character to create tension(which was primarily emotional) and to propel the main character into action. The novel I'm working on now is more violent in nature. I plan to use it for both conflict and to build emotion.
ReplyDeleteAh, so a Hercules/Punisher sort of semi-call to action.
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