Hehehe!
Okay, for all those who don't know, I've been writing this novel called FREAK about five years. Obsessed? Nah... In any case, it deals with societal issues. What can I say? I was listening to the news one day, heard this exceptionally creepy story, and wrote about it.
In any case, I was looking at some of the older drafts at FREAK. Quite simply put? They sucked. Terribly.
For one, since I was dealing with societal issues, I thought, "Wow! I'm such an advanced, awesome, stick-in-adjective writer. So therefore, I have to make the reader aware that I am so advanced, awesome, stick-in-adjective." How did I do this? I made sure you knew of the conflict until you absolutely hated it. I went on and on, infodumps galore, until you throw the draft into the wall.
Yeah.
So don't do this, please. It's not good. Really.
Instead of shoving it in your readers face, like I did, try a more subtle approach. Remember what you are writing. You are writing a story. Not some weird thing that vaguely resembles an essay. A story.
Repeat that to yourself a couple of times, if that is a hard concept to grasp. I know I did.
With that said, never stop the story because of your societal message. Keep it going. Or, better yet, involve it in the story somehow. What if your characters have to face the conflict that their society creates for them? Have fun!
And never forget: you are writing a story.
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