By Michelle Brower
As a thriller and mystery reader (not to mention horror movie buff), I have to be fairly non-squeamish in order to survive. This is doubly true as a reader of slush, since beginning authors often try to get over the lack of tension and suspense in their manuscripts with a vicious onslaught of sex, death, and violence. Have I seen bugs exploding out of someone's body for no good reason? Oh yes, I have. Have I seen a fight scene last 10 pages? Oh yes, I've seen that too. Have I seen a brutal gang rape that begins on page 1, and then we never see that character again? Yuppers, I have! So, over the years of reading violence in all sorts of published and unpublished works, I've come up with a few general rules of the road on what kind of mayem is just enough and what might make your reader squirm just enough to put your book down.
1) My cardinal rule: One rape is enough. I use this maxim in all sorts of fiction, not just thrillers. My authors will tell you that I've said this to them if they get out of bounds. A rape is an easy narrative device to overuse, because it is both horribly traumatic AND leaves your protagonist alive for the rest of the book. But seriously, one is plenty. It's a really big deal, and if your character has to go through that experience more than once it's major, major overkill. And be cautious about using this even once- think about off-screen vs on-screen, and the implications of what you are trying to convey.
2) Child abuse. I know many editors who will immediately refuse to buy a book as soon as there is a dead or sexually abused child in it. Case closed. I know it seems like the reader will be on your side immediately, because everyone wants to protect the children, but the squirm factor is very high here. I can deal with children in peril, but little dead bodies make me want to cry. Aw man, even thinking about it is bumming me out.
3) Gore on page 1. There's nothing wrong with a little blood and guts, but you have to get your reader to trust you first. Don't just start your book and then BLAM! disembowelment, thoroughly and graphically described. I know we say to start with the action, but it's bad form to rely on the cheap thrills of oozing wounds to get your reader interested. Many, if not most, will decide to put the book down. The only thing worse than a violent or gross opening scene is when it turns out that it was ALL A DREAM (ooo, waving my hands, signifying wavy dream lines).
These are by no means all of the cardinal sins of violence in writing, but they are my top offenders. Really skillfull writers can create tensions without resorting to any violence at all (and this coming from the person who really liked the movie Cabin Fever because it had a person running around both decomposing and on fire), so if you want to include the juicy bits get the basics down first. If you don't have the suspense that goes with good storytelling, all the rest will make it glaringly obvious.
