One of the recurring themes in my fiction writing is that of vindication.
I find it’s one of the most subconsciously accepted elements in our society. Why else would antiheroes like Batman or the Punisher be popular?
There’s a deep-seeded, self-righteous need to have those with lesser morals be dispatched from our realm of life. But no one ever wants to admit that in the public sphere. That would be condoning the death penalty.
Perhaps the yen for reckoning, not revenge, in my writing is due to being bullied from grades 5 to 9. I escaped into writing, and offed those who were causing me grief in the pages.
I would have several notebooks where I would write stories. And those who picked on me in school would meet an untimely, painful demise in the pages of said notebooks. I remember the titles that I had for two novellas: Death Challenge and Death Beyond Criticism.
I’m not sure what an over-sensitive teacher would do if they came across my writing back when I was a tween, but I’d have some serious explaining to do.
Seriously though, it was innocuous. It was my way to release, and now I want to return to that release: writing fiction and using my greatest asset, my imagination.
Back in those days, I literally put pen to paper. A month ago I purchased a notebook from Indigo for the sole purpose of writing manually again. And so begins my reconstruction of a character I had as a kid, and evolving it into a more mature, modernized version.
The idea is there. The story is there. I just have to draw it out and dedicate time to writing fiction. I need to push out the words, critiques of others aside and just write.
I’m not sure what the excessive use of the revenge/reckoning themes will do, but catharsis is the end result.