{"id":783,"date":"2025-07-27T14:22:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T20:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/?p=783"},"modified":"2025-07-22T00:18:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T06:18:34","slug":"lets-talk-about-violence-in-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/07\/27\/lets-talk-about-violence-in-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s talk about violence (in fiction)"},"content":{"rendered":"
2\u20133 minutes<\/div>\n\n\n

Let’s get something out of the way: yes, my books have death in them. Yes, characters break. They lose their minds. They kill or are killed. Yes, I write about grief, guilt, trauma, obsession, rage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And no, I’m not sorry about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because fiction isn’t supposed to be soft and digestible all the time. Sometimes, it’s supposed to be a little uncomfortable. Sometimes, it’s supposed to sting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that doesn’t mean it’s dark for the sake of being dark<\/em>. It means it’s honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

For the readers who want ‘lighter’ stories<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I get it. Not everyone wants to read about death and ruin and the ugly side of being human. That’s fine. There’s space for every story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when people tell me “your stories are too heavy”<\/em> or “you should write something more uplifting”<\/em>, I can’t help but wonder \u2014 why are we so afraid of going there? Why do we flinch at fictional violence when real violence is something we live with every day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My work doesn’t exist to glorify pain. It exists to examine it. To ask why<\/em> it happens. Who it affects. What silence costs us. What we carry and bury and call healing when it’s really just numbness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that feels too dark for some, that’s okay. But I won’t dilute what I believe to be a truth worth examining just to make it more digestible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

What makes it worth writing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Violence in my stories isn’t a plot device. It’s a lens. Through it, I explore heartbreak, power dynamics, the ache of being misunderstood, the cruelty of being silenced. In Things You’ll Never Understand<\/a><\/em>, there’s no murder scene \u2014 but there is emotional violence. Systemic violence. The kind that leaves no physical bruises, only internal ones. And that’s just as worthy of being written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you read closely, you’ll see the light is always there too. It’s just not where people expect it. It’s in the survivors. In the characters who endure. In the tiny moments of softness that bloom despite everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So no, my work isn’t “just dark.” It’s complex. It’s layered. It’s honest. It offends me when people think otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if writing about the hardest parts of being human makes some people uncomfortable? Good. That means they\u2019re paying attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Montse<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These stories aren\u2019t dark for the sake of it. The violence isn\u2019t spectacle \u2014 it\u2019s language. It speaks of silence, shame, and the quiet ways people undo each other. If it makes readers uncomfortable, that\u2019s the point. Fiction isn\u2019t meant to soothe all the time. Sometimes, it\u2019s meant to confront.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134972872,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20562775,782781792],"tags":[7758714,178,1747,3330,349,59708],"class_list":["post-783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-heart-of-the-story","category-writing-beyond-comfort","tag-bookish-thoughts","tag-books","tag-fiction","tag-publishing","tag-writing","tag-writing-tips"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfZGWd-cD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":774,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/07\/24\/can-a-murder-be-poetic\/","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":0},"title":"Can a murder be poetic?","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"July 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In my books, no one dies for fun. They die for love. Or shame. Or because silence turned into something sharper than a knife. Murder, in fiction, isn\u2019t about shock \u2014 it\u2019s about what it reveals. And if written right, it doesn\u2019t glorify death. It asks you to sit with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Heart of the Story"","block_context":{"text":"The Heart of the Story","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-heart-of-the-story\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1082,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/10\/30\/i-write-about-murder-but-i-swear-im-nice\/","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":1},"title":"I write about murder but I swear I’m nice!","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"October 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A cheeky, candid piece in which the author explains her obsession with murder in fiction: not as celebration, but as a blunt tool to probe grief, fear, and what people become when faced with death.","rel":"","context":"In "The Heart of the Story"","block_context":{"text":"The Heart of the Story","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-heart-of-the-story\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2100,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2026\/04\/30\/i-keep-writing-loss-because-loss-keeps-writing-back\/","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":2},"title":"I keep writing loss because loss keeps writing back","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"April 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Exploring the complexities of grief, asserting it encompasses various losses beyond death, and finding solace in fiction, which embraces unresolved emotions.","rel":"","context":"In "The Heart of the Story"","block_context":{"text":"The Heart of the Story","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-heart-of-the-story\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1895,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2026\/03\/05\/shes-not-your-mother-your-lover-or-your-therapist\/","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":3},"title":"She’s not your mother, your lover, or your therapist","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"March 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"We must champion unlikable heroines, celebrating their complexity and rejecting societal norms that demand women's likability and simplicity.","rel":"","context":"In "The Heart of the Story"","block_context":{"text":"The Heart of the Story","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-heart-of-the-story\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2758,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2026\/09\/15\/writing-letters-to-myself\/","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":4},"title":"Writing letters to myself","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"September 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Finding your voice in writing involves listening to yourself, exploring unexpressed feelings, and creating honest narratives that connect with others' experiences.","rel":"","context":"In "Behind the Drafts"","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Drafts","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-writing-life\/behind-the-drafts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1076,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/11\/27\/no-your-book-doesnt-have-to-be-marketable\/","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":5},"title":"No, your book doesn’t have to be “marketable”","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"November 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Writing should prioritize personal artistic expression over marketability, emphasizing that true passion resonates with readers and defies commercial trends.","rel":"","context":"In "Indie Author Confidential"","block_context":{"text":"Indie Author Confidential","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-writing-life\/indie-author-confidential\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134972872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":844,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions\/844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}