Young Writers Society

I'm currently brainstorming a novel about a Vietnam veteran dealing with his PTSD and depression. At one point, he'll be admitted to a psych hospital, and part of his treatment is electroconvultion therapy, which is basically inducing a seizure to bring about a permanent change in mood.

I'd like to have the seizure take place in first person, but my experiences with seizures are limited. How should I approach this? Are seizures bright lights and rapid images? Should I bother with coherent sentences?

Research. Research research research. Use the power of Google to see if you can find some firsthand accounts of seizures, maybe read some book excerpts, pry around on a medical website (I like mayoclinic.com), and make sure you get all your facts covered. I don't know much about seizures myself, but I do know that as with any serious condition or experience, you need to get your facts right so as not to risk alienating or offending your audience. And just out of artistic responsibility in general. (Adding much of this for anyone reading, not necessarily because I think you don't know this, Flemz.)

As for the style aspect, the only way to know what works best is to try things. I think it'd be reasonable to throw standard grammar and punctuation out the window in favor of a pacing and effect on the reader that more accurately imitates what the patient is going through. It'd be important here to make sure that you adopt this style throughout the whole novel, though, so that the entire novel reflects what's going on emotionally and mentally.

i'm a bit curious as to why you chose Vietnam, as quite frankly there is a ton of literature on Vietnam, a lot even by Vietnam war vets, and some of that literature not even particularly about the war on the surface but just showing up in other modes (George R.R. Martin talked about how some writers he knew, even when they were writing alternate world fantasies, were writing Vietnam). In fact one of my favorite books of all time is written by one of these Vietnam war vets about Vietnam and life, in a fairly postmodern, expressionistic, emotional-truth style. The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien if you're curious.

To answer the questions: Vietnam is what I know most about. Also, it's the most interesting war in regards to America's reaction. Most of the population was against the war in Vietnam, and treated the soldiers like crap when they came home. Psychologically, it's the most interesting, and the parades and excitement of day are directly related to the emotional toll Vietnam vets underwent.

Also, fun fact: Tim O'Brien grew up in my hometown, and graduated from my high school.