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Q&A Portraying the Brutality of War

Events will have less emotional impact on the reader if you write them in the background and not for specific characters, especially not your main characters. For example, compare a scene descri...

posted 6y ago by Cyn‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:32Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39923
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:06:20Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39923
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:06:20Z (about 5 years ago)
Events will have less emotional impact on the reader if you write them in the background and not for specific characters, especially not your main characters.

For example, compare a scene describing a violent rape to one of your characters vs a scene where a character is in police station or a military command office and an unnamed person comes in trying to report a rape. The officer dismisses her with a "what can I do? besides, you're the 50th report I've gotten this week."

In the latter example, you set the stage. The reader understands that rape has become common and the men in charge don't even care. But you do it without sensationalizing it.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-11-05T22:35:53Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 1