When Cancel Culture Rises from the Grave

Throughout the years, I have read books that have shocked me and rocked me to the core. From indie books such as Woom to mainstream works like IT by Stephen King. Some writers love to push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable. While some readers turn away in disgust, others find themselves drawn to this more sadistic side of storytelling.

Writers often pour their deepest and darkest thoughts into their work—just as songwriters, artists, and actors do. We open up that locked box of all our messed-up thoughts, emotions, and feelings, and throw them out into the world. Things we would never say in public, or scenes we would never act out in real life.

The best creators are often tortured in some way, and a little messed up. This is why the best music is made when artists are scraping the barrel and barely functioning through addiction, and why the best artists and writers are those who are crippled by heartbreak and substance misuse. Look at Edgar Allan Poe, Van Gogh, Nirvana, and more. Some of the greatest, most influential artists in their fields let their sick and tortured emotions run riot upon the canvas, allowing it to flow into the world, and at one point, we loved it. Writers and artists stood for something. People complained, yes, but the writer rarely apologised for it, and publishers backed them.

This is what storytelling is. It’s stepping into a world away from our own and lifting the veil on what is going on inside someone's mind in the shadows. And we love it. We love reading, hearing, and feeling those emotions of pain. We love wrestling with moral conundrums and philosophical arguments that the creator conveys to us.

And then, people got sensitive, and offence became currency.

Recently, I became aware of a writer named Sophie Lark, who found herself on the receiving end of backlash because she wrote something in one of her novels that someone found offensive. This ‘fan’ decided to post it online, without context, and the post blew up. People were calling for the writer’s blood, insisting she should be struck from her publisher and banished from the face of the earth—all because someone, somewhere, found something offensive in her work.

I shook my head when I heard this. I couldn’t believe we still live in a world so full of sensibilities, trigger warnings, and mollycoddling to people's feelings when creating something that isn’t even real.

Surely, that is the point of artwork—to challenge the norm, to poke at the fabric of what is considered decent, and to force emotions and ask questions that make the reader think.

Now, you may think that this writer wrote something truly awful, perhaps screaming some racist or disgusting rhetoric. No, far from it. She wrote the line:

“But shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?”

This is clearly a character making a satirical comment about someone else in the story. The poster and complainer went on to say they couldn’t believe other characters in the story didn’t challenge the character who said this. What in the world? Are we seriously getting upset that a fictional set of characters didn’t challenge another fictional character over something said in a fictional book? What the hell has the world come to?

The complainer also got upset because the author referenced Elon Musk in the book, and this, of course, is like saying “Beetlejuice” to the woke mob.

In response to this, rather than the publisher and author sitting tight and riding out the storm until the complainers found something else to be outraged about—or, even better, doubling down and stating that if they didn’t like it, they could find another author to read—they released a statement:

I want to start by saying how much I appreciate this community. Your passion, support, and willingness to engage in meaningful conversations have always meant the world to me. That’s why it's so important for me to address something I got wrong.

It has been brought to my attention that certain lines in Sparrow and Vine were hurtful. Reading your messages and hearing your perspectives over the last twenty-four hours has been humbling, and I want to acknowledge the pain my words have caused. I am truly sorry. My intention was to craft and demonstrate a flawed main character, but instead, I wrote dialogue that read as attacking to a community that I care about very much.

During the editing process, Bloom recommended removing these lines, and I made the wrong choice in keeping them. I now understand that impact matters more than intent, and I regret that my words caused harm. Please don’t blame Bloom for my mistakes.

I wrote this back in the summer of 2024, and a lot has changed in the world since then, particularly regarding the fate of immigrants worldwide and certain public figures. Some things I would write differently now, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Words mean nothing without action, so I am pausing this book and this series for some re-writes to ensure that my work doesn’t contribute to harm.

I will also be listening more closely to our sensitivity readers and taking additional steps to educate myself on responsible storytelling. And to those who took the time to share their feedback, thank you. To those I have hurt, I am very sorry. I hope I can earn your trust back in the future.

This statement is pathetic and grovelling. An attempt to appease those who cannot accept that someone thinks differently to them or is capable of redemption. Sensitivity readers? Educating yourself? You are selling out by appealing to those that do not want to hear it.

So, you wrote a line about migrants. It’s fiction. So, you wrote about Elon Musk. Who cares? It’s your art, and you decide what goes in it.

By apologising, they have played into the hands of those who would love to see them burn. Further comments on this apology were that it wasn’t sincere enough, not thought out enough, not good enough, and so on. Anyone asking for further context to the quotes were doxed as being part of the problem.

What happened to reading? When did everyone get so damn offended over everything?

Apologising for something you said when you believed it to be the right thing in the first place not only validates those who wish to see you destroyed but also alienates those who want to cheer you on.

This is why it is so important to make your own mark in the sand, letting those who think the same way as you and enjoy your authentic self, find you. This is also the issue with writing to mass market, and trying to be vanilla and appeal to everyone. By standing for nothing, you will fall for anything. The writer in this case now has not only angered the mob, but has alienated her existing audience due to her giving in.

By pandering to feelings and playing to the sensibilities of those who may read or digest your work, you are ensuring that your audience will never be happy. They will happily kick the chair from under you when you are suffocating with the rope of outrage around your throat.

You cannot, and should not, try to please everyone. Stand for something, and stand strong. That way, when the hurricane of cancellation comes, you will have strong foundations around you to weather the storm.

Not only that, but cancellation can also actually help someone get bigger. Because suddenly, everyone is talking about them. I had people ask me who this writer was, and what the book was. The person that doxed them online, actually made them famous.

If it wasn’t for the grovelling apology, I may have considered reading the book myself.

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How to Write a Psychopath

American Psycho

Psychopaths are incredibly fun to read in books and watch on the big screen and have been popularised by some very infamous and somewhat controversial films and books, from American Psycho written by Bret Easton Ellis, Hannibal Lecter by Thomas Harris and even James Bond by Ian Fleming.

                But why is it that these characters have captured both love and fear in our hearts? What is it about them that makes us want to know more? Is it their propensity to violence? Their ability to be cunning and manipulative without feeling any remorse? Is it their self-confidence and being able to think under pressure? Whatever the reason, our hearts have a soft place in them for psychopaths in literature.

                In this blog, I am going to tell you how to create your very own in your fiction, and it will maybe help you spot these same traits in other characters you enjoy.

Hannibal Lecter

 Traits of a psychopath –

                Most Psychopaths are male, with them making up approx. 1% of the population, and are estimated to make up 50 – 80% of the prison population. Women that show high traits of Psychopathy are more likely to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, which along with Psychopathy, is a ‘Cluster B’ personality disorder along with Narcissism and Histrionic Personality Disorder as outlined in the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM – 5 for short) of the American Psychiatric Association.  

                Psychopathy lends itself to having many different traits, all of which are useful in certain situations, and can even benefit those in certain careers (below). Most people can dial these traits down as and when they need them, but a psychopath can’t and would always have these traits on the high setting in their brains.

                These are low empathy, impulsivity, calm under pressure, manipulative, charming, ruthlessness and emotionally detached and show a lack of remorse for their actions.

James Bond

This list can make for some fantastic characters and even make for some fantastic story arcs. Maybe a character is charming and loving, and then later down the line, we see that it was all manipulation to convince someone to give up their life savings, and then abandon them. Tinder Swindler, anyone?

                Or maybe we have a character that is a military soldier, a warrior, who is ruthless and can cut through the enemy without a shred of remorse? A police officer who will do anything to crack the case, or a surgeon who has the steadiest hand to make that vital, life-saving cut with everything on the line?

                Psychopaths make for excellent characters. They make incredibly fun heroes to write about, and add a lot more depth to the ‘bad guy.’ We can look into their childhood, in that a psychopathic person would have normally come from some kind of abusive childhood, and uses psychopathy as a way to navigate the world based off of that. It gives the character more back story. More depth.

Professor Kevin Dutton

According to psychologist Professor Kevin Dutton, most psychopaths are split into two categories. Those with high traits and a low propensity to commit violence, and those with high psychopathic traits and a higher propensity to violence.

                Those that are of lower violent tendencies are more likely to be characterised by high-pressure positions, such as politicians, CEOs, police officers, lawyers and high-end athletes. These could make for some great characters and some side characters, and maybe even a villain or two in there? Maybe the villain is a top businessman of a rival company that is trying to sabotage the hero’s chances at getting their foot on the corporate ladder? Or even a detective that drinks too much and is emotionally vacant when around other people, but is ruthless and driven to catch the bad guy?

Jack Torrance - The Shining

The psychopaths that are high in psychopathic traits with a higher level of predisposition to violence would be our classical villains such as serial killers, a criminal mob boss and even a soldier that has gone rogue.

                Psychopaths make for great foreshadowing opportunities too, as they can be very manipulative. In your story, you can have the psychopath dropping hints and leaving clues for the rest of the characters to find, and then when the big reveal comes later in the book, the reader can connect the dots and have the ‘Oh my god!’ moment that we all love to create when they figure it all out.

Lorna - By Jay Darkmoore

In my dark romance ‘Lorna,’ the main character in the story ‘Christian’ is a psychopath, and he will stop at nothing to not only win the heart of Lorna, his new infatuation but also kill and destroy the lives of anyone that dares stand in his way.

Order it here on kindle unlimited today.

                Psychopaths are so much fun to write and can offer a lot of depth to your characters and the story. Even just highlighting certain traits outlined above and giving them to your characters can make a lot of difference to your writing.

                Have fun with it and thank you for reading.

                But what about other writing ideas? What about being able to break through writer’s block?

Click here to read on.