Young Writers Society

Rated for Sexual References.
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Okay, so in the current novel I am writing, there are a scene which I envisioned. Now that I'm getting close to actually writing it, I don't know how to quite pull it off. First, a little background information on my novel. It takes place in the golden age of piracy. My main character gets kidnapped by pirates and is made a prisoner. When she tries to escape, the captain finds her. See, I want him to rape her. This is because the main character will then fight back, and it is a perfect lead into the next scene. However, I'm in a dilema because I don't want this seen to be so entirely graphic. This is because I just want my story to be appropriate for 10-11 year olds to pick up and read. Also I'm not going to have a rape scene just to have a rape scene. So, help. How do I show that there is defiently some kind of sexual abuse going on with out making it too graphic or innapropriate? Thanks for any help.

Hard one, Elinor!

I'll start off by saying I have little experience with writing such things, so perhaps I am not the best source of advice, but I will try my best.

I think one of the keys with implying things like this is really paying attention to the interaction between characters. I do have one experience in which I had to imply rape without overtly mentioning it, and I pulled it off by just infusing enormous levels of tension between the characters. I think if you make the character interactions tense, awkward and sometimes suggestive, you should give the reader a pretty good idea of what happened. Focus in on the dynamics between the characters, let your character react in whatever sensitive/violent/devastated way she leans toward and let that stand by itself. If done well, the right audience will read into it and the younger audience won't get the hint.

A good example of this is the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame (though I do use this movie for many examples, don't I?). The writing of the songs contains some strong, sexual themes, but, as a child, I had no idea that was what was happening. So, that might be a helpful example to you.

I hope that helped! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Rape + Child audience =

Kinda difficult, this one.

Does it have to be a rape scene? I see your dilemma, but in light of the fact that you want ten/eleven year olds to be able to read this and be able to understand and enjoy it, is rape necessarily the conflict you want to go with? Can you just go with him tormenting her and perhaps making veiled sexual threats and then actually turn to physical violence, but her fighting back keeps it from progressing to rape? Older readers will understand the captain's intentions and what is going on, while younger readers will at least see that she is in serious danger of being hurt.

Or, if you really want to keep the rape but not show it graphically, you could have it start with him threatening her, perhaps suggestively, then sort of fade to black? Again, older readers will pick up on it, but younger readers will at least know she was hurt.

Yeah, I'm thinking a fade to black might be appropriate here. Just imply that whatever happened, it was bad. Readers will fill in the blanks according to their level of knowledge and maturity.

If it were a YA novel, I'd say cut loose, but you have to be much more careful with very young readers.

From hearing a bit more about your novel, I'd actually say to raise the age of your target audience. Some plots, like those dealing with normally R rated content (or even normally PG-13 content) for a younger audience fall flat in the draft stage. There's also pitching such a novel to editors. The raciest I've seen for 9-12 historical novels was in The Royal Diaries, Marie Antoinette, where she writes about going to a separate bedrooms after meeting Louis. There's also the mention of periods and kissing in other historical novels I've read for that age-range, as well as some downright gushy romantic stuff (didn't like/understand it at 11, liked and understood it at 14). I've also read an adult novel dealing with Marie Antoinette's life, and the mention of bedrooms carried so much more symbolism and weight when there was more detail.

The reason I suggest redefining who you want reading these books is, when you're writing towards a younger audience you miss out on a lot of the deeper themes. You're not digging into the flesh of an issue such as attempted rape; you're skimming the surface and possibly alienating older audiences. You can get away with some topics if the MC is young enough— most books targeted to a 9-12 audience have 9-12 MCs, or 14+ MCs who live a sheltered life so the readers would be able to relate to them. If the MC is thrust into a very adult world very quickly, you'd be appealing to 15+ audience. Maybe adult audience, depending on the level of detail. But with a YA novel you can still be a bit "young" and appeal to 14/15, but be "adult" enough to appeal to those 18+.

If you want to write a 9-12 novel, you have to tailor it from the plot and characters up to the younger audience. That means getting rid of all adult situations, and keeping your MC in the 10-14 age bracket.

Hope this helps.

~Rosey

Thanks everyone. I will take everyone's advice into account when writing the new scene-and thanks Rosey, now that I think about it I'll up the age range of my novel. That way I have a bit more freedom.

Since this is now longer relevant, I'll get a mod to lock this.