I am a sick bastard

[danalwyn]

For those of you who dabble in the art of writing, have you ever had one of those moments while you were researching something for a story where you think "You know, if I weren't doing this for the purposes of fiction, I would be a pretty sick bastard"? In my case, this is usually followed by the thought "Nope, any way I look at it, I'm still a pretty sick bastard".

I had this feeling today when I was trying to figure out how many lashes with a judicial whip it would take to kill a fourteen year old undernourished girl. It disturbed me enough that I put down the story and haven't been able to pick back up where I was.

I absolutely hate it when moral qualms get in the way of writing something.


You can all de-friend me now and run away in horror if you choose and I won't take it personally

Comments

[silverjackal.livejournal.com]

Add me into the "sick bastard" category, because I immediately wondered what the number would be, too. Not because I enjoy the thought of such punishment being inflicted, but in the interests of accuracy. That's somewhat chilling, too -- that I would consider it important to know that (for example, the numbers are random), 10 would be acceptable, but more than 15 might be fatal. Intellectual curiosity can make one's ethics highly uncomfortable at times.

[danalwyn.livejournal.com]

As long as we don't try experimenting, I suspect we're okay.

It gives one insight into the "mad scientist" category though.