---

Sex and Violence
by Patrick LeClerc

I was hanging around the office trying to avoid work. This may sound strange, but one place the editors are not likely to be is anywhere near the slush pile. And I paused outside the door listening for broken sobs before I came in, so I was pretty sure the place was empty.

My morbid curiosity drove me to scan through some of the "rejection" file. Actually, Mike has the file labeled "Items to Mention in the Note They Find Pinned to my Corpse After I Snap and Lose My Shoot-out With the Feds." Man, he's lucky the government can't snoop on a private citizen's hard drive.

Looking through some of the discard pile, I noticed something. A high percentage of them made use of sex and violence.

Now, I don't want to come off as being against sex and violence. Not at all. In fact, if Ray and Mike hadn't made me sign that "No Show Tunes" clause before they'd post bail, I'd launch into my best Julie Andrews impression with (A Few of) My Favorite Things!

But, as I told the young woman in that hotel in Singapore when she asked if all the leather, whipped cream and hand puppets were necessary, "Sweetheart, if we're gonna do this thing, we may as well do it right."

The approach to sex and violence in most of the rejected stories, and in bad stories in general, whether they see the light of day or not, and far too many do, is to treat it as beer at a frat party. That is, if you can get six beers of brand A for six dollars, or twelve of brand B, then brand B must be better.

Trust me, it's not. You're much better off going for the good stuff. Maybe the volume will be less, but it will be a more memorable experience, and you stand less of a chance of making an ass of yourself, starting a fight, and waking up curled in a fetal position naked on the floor of a strange bathroom, praying for the tender mercy of death, so long as it doesn't make much noise.

To further explain, using the convenient and easily understood metaphor of cheap liquor, any story you read at QM is free, so we save nothing by drinking the dollar a case brand. Think of having the keys to the cabinet and being able to choose between bathtub gin and single malt.

The problem with many writers is that they overuse sex and violence, assuming that its mere presence will provide spice to a story. Just being there isn't enough, and quantity isn't quality. In fact, in a fair number of the stories, the stuff is boring.

Now, I've seen and done a few things in my short life, and can hardly be called innocent, but nobody should find sex and violence boring. Unless you are a British football fan with a summer house in Rwanda and a harem of lingerie models and more groupies than the Rolling Stones, there is no way you should have seen enough sex and violence that it should be boring.

These are two of the most basic triggers hardwired into our DNA. Everyone should have strong feelings about both of them. With this kind of explosive to work with, you should be able to create an impact.

It doesn't have to be a positive impact, nor need it be negative. Lord knows, the QM staff is hardly in a position to make value judgments. But it should do something.

Lets take sex. (Insert you own joke. I don't go after prey this easy) Make the reader feel it. Whether it be desire or fear or confusion or just dirty, I should feel something when reading a sex scene. Too many writers use it as a motivation, but rob it of any emotional impact. If we don't care, it's not a motivation. I read a very good submission recently. The author described a character only in terms of her movement and body language, no references to her physical attributes at all, and made me lust after her. That's about the best sex you can get for free from a printed word.

Likewise violence. Human beings are wired to survive. The body is pretty amazing. People don't just easily slip off this mortal coil because the plot demands it. Mike told a story about a man stabbed twice, in the neck and the chest, who tried to fend off the ambulance crew who came to help him. They found the right apartment by following the massive blood trail up three flights of stairs to the door.

Once again, I'm not saying anything has to be only a certain way. If the tone of a piece is light, keep the scenes light. Characters in a comedy don't need to die spitting blood and curses. But decide what impact you want from the scene, and give it to us.

Nice and rough. Just how we like it.

| Home | Alternative | Fantasy | Science Fiction | Artwork | Editorial | Submissions | News |
| Discussion Board | Recommended | Merchandise | About Us | Links | Webrings | Archives |