A Writer's Revenge
You can't go through this life without someone, eventually, screwing you over. When I was younger, I usually got very angry, argumentative, maybe even tried to figure out how to get even. Now, I am more likely to simply let it go. As the famous quote goes, success is learning how to endure the betrayal of false friends. Endure is the key word there. Revenge is pointless. It uses up your own energy. Endure. I recently discovered someone I thought was a dear friend is indeed . . . not a friend. So goes life. It is what it is.
But, I will admit that every once in a while, I get a writer's revenge. In High School Bites, the math teacher Lucy dubs Mrs. Ruthless? That was MY math teacher, a truly horrid woman. Even with the wisdom of adult hindsight, that woman had no business being in the classroom. Each and every class was an exercise in her humiliating students. She was always in a bad mood--not sometimes, or even most of the time. Always. She was pinched and angry, and now she is immortalized in print. The worst math teacher. Ever.
There are other little bits of revenge here and there. I don't even know if, truly, I can call it revenge. It's not my motivation. Most writers draw on real life, so when I need to describe a horrid teacher, that one is the inspiration. When I need to describe an emotionally bullying ex-husband . . . not hard to describe. When I need to write about how it feels to be betrayed . . . I have resources.
So . . . have you ever stuck even a line in one of your manuscripts--maybe even a line that only YOU will get . . . that's a little bit of writer's revenge?
But, I will admit that every once in a while, I get a writer's revenge. In High School Bites, the math teacher Lucy dubs Mrs. Ruthless? That was MY math teacher, a truly horrid woman. Even with the wisdom of adult hindsight, that woman had no business being in the classroom. Each and every class was an exercise in her humiliating students. She was always in a bad mood--not sometimes, or even most of the time. Always. She was pinched and angry, and now she is immortalized in print. The worst math teacher. Ever.
There are other little bits of revenge here and there. I don't even know if, truly, I can call it revenge. It's not my motivation. Most writers draw on real life, so when I need to describe a horrid teacher, that one is the inspiration. When I need to describe an emotionally bullying ex-husband . . . not hard to describe. When I need to write about how it feels to be betrayed . . . I have resources.
So . . . have you ever stuck even a line in one of your manuscripts--maybe even a line that only YOU will get . . . that's a little bit of writer's revenge?
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:02 AM
17 Comments:
I once ran a former employer through a giant meat grinder. Hehe. How's that for revenge?
Jude:
Get on the couch. That is REALLY sick. Yet again . . . you scare me.
E
Erica -
You and I must have had the same math teacher! My dad was a counselor at the school I attended in the fourth grade and he did not condone spanking, which my teacher loved to do to. She'd drag a misbehaving 10 year old boy in front of the class and whack his rear with a wooden paddle. My dad threatened to report her if she did it again. Needless to say, she made my life a living hell that year and fostered a life long distaste for math.
Hmmmmm....Maybe I'll have her meet up with a gruesome fate in my next story.
Nina:
A couple of months ago, I blogged about something along those lines. I thought I wasn't any good at math--I was truly math phobic. Then, as an adult, maybe ten years ago, I picked up a book on math theory. I loved it! I got the concepts, and I adored the beauty and grace of numbers--and then that started me reading physics texts, astronomy. I now primarily read science in my spare time, not fiction. And I can trace my whole phobia of math to that one, awful teacher.
E
Move over Jude...my turn on the couch:
-erectile dysfunction to the dirt-bag ex
-toxemia and stretch-marks like a road map to the sleazy ex-friend who banged the ex
-a sexual harassment lawsuit to the pervy teacher who failed me in English (yes...FAILED ME)
Okay, so maybe I don't need the couch. Not like I've put anyone through a meat grinder yet. :)
lainey:
No . . . a creepy ex and slutty ex-friend deserve a little erectile dysfunction.
:-)
E
I use writers revenge a lot. Which usually takes a similar form as Jude's. : )
Tamara's boss in my first book was a composite of a few, not-so-nice bosses I endured in my early work days.
But I solemnly swear never to piss off Jude or Lainey!
Hee hee!
Mary C.
A former relative became a serial killer and, boy, did he get his. ;-) A bully from grade school is destroyed by an evil entity. I just realized that enjoy this sort of revenge WAY to much. Definitely my turn on the couch....
The quip I have at the end of a sequel I wrote speaks directly to the reviewers who called my heroine TSTL. She informs the villain who has misjudged her to his own detriment, "Who's stupid now, a$$hole?"
It's just for my own amusement, but I love it so. ;-)
I just had a horrible dream.
I was in Hell, standing at a fork in the road. One signpost said GIANT MEAT GRINDER and the other said ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION.
I woke up in a cold sweat before I had to choose. :)
mary:
Now that you mention the workplace/bosses . . . in Spanish Disco, there is a scene I personally laughed out loud while writing. Cassie is a book editor (I used to be), and she is listening to her voicemails--largely from diva authors who are demanding bigger author photos, better covers, etc. etc. Defninitely a composite of authors and divas I met.
kathy, la:
I guess this is more widespread than I thought! I am loving reading all these comments.
E
michelle:
Awesome comeback!
E
jude:
Choose your poison, I guess.
E
I used one of my 'friends' as inspiration for scene featuring a torturous photo night. I figure if I have to sit through it, I can use it.
kathryn:
As many of the "revenge" things I have . . . I also have some very funny stories I put out of love. My friends sometimes recognize themselves in my books.
E
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