All Comments on 'Wrong Beginnings'

unrealistic. I mean, if I found out my roommate had raped me, we wouldn't then go on to have sex. Complete violation of trust & privacy and I probably would've beat my roommate senseless. Forget having been wronged before, that had nothing to do with Nicole who was a totally different person than the other girl. It read well & your style is great, I just couldn't get anything from it, though.

Fiction is the form of any work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not real, but rather, imaginary and theoretical—that is, invented by the author.

I don't think many readers understand the term fiction. Of course its unrealistic.

I like your writing style and enjoyed your story. Keep up the good work....

I definitely understand what fiction means and that it is the authors right to bend and create a reality that exists outside of this reality. However, if you are dealing with rape, you should forewarn your readers so they have the choice to read or not. Not doing so was irresponsible of the author and as such, if there are readers who are offended or frankly pissed off about the story, that is their right as well. Forget it being unrealistic, that isn't a proper description. It was malicious, stupid, and frankly a gross misrepresentation of rape. The fact is she never really addresses the issue of rape, blaming it on her confusion and being shut down with her first crush is unforgivable. Fiction is not about allowing us to say whatever we want, it is about creating a story, and the story created, in my opinion wasn't that great. The friendship between the roommates seemed forced and I doubt that was the intention of the author. So yes, I understand what fiction means, I also understand what trigger means and if the author wants to write about controversial topics such as rape, they should have the courtesy to write a warning. If they do not they subject themselves to the anger of a readership that had they known about the topic would not have ventured into the story. Continue to write just be aware of other people's sensitivities. Rape isn't a joke, it isn't just another overreaction. It is a real problem, and as an author you should respect it. If you have any issues with this comment. Feel free to contact me. a_m_19@outlook.com I may write back... but ultimately I don't want people to discount my comment because it is anonymous. Yes, I am anonymous, but it doesn't mean what I wrote is any less right.

This should have had a courtesy warning about nonconsent. Honestly though, it's not like it's a subtle work. You could pretty much surmise that the roommate was drugging and raping her in the first couple paragraphs. Also, rape and its attraction for the victim is an entirely legitimate literary concept, (Atwood's "Rape Fantasies" for example) granting the subject is treated with all the sensitivity of chainsaw by some of the authors on this site (JimBob's "Explanation of Love" for example.)

Demanding realism in fiction is an entirely legitimate literary position as well. Hell, Verne and Wells acknowledged that difference of writing theory while still enjoying each others' works as fathers of science fiction of all things.I could believe Nicole's reaction as a revenge fuck, recognizing that she worked through a number of highly complex emotions with remarkable alacrity, but a story has to make sense within itself too. Beyond Nicole's repeated confusion as to who was putting words in her mouth (clearly the author), I couldn't get past her noting that the strapon was bigger than any of the porn stars she'd ever seen...right after we learn that she's never watched porn and only seen her brother's magazines? Coupled with the unlikely stream of consciousness from Nicole, that and the other logical inconsistencies strained my suspension of disbelief too far.

The author is clearly talented, but I think the story in its current form only works as a FMBM piece.

I do understand and agree with an author warning its readers if his or her story deals with controversial topics. Rape is no joke and not many are interested in stories of that nature. However, I do not think that a writer should be penalized for how they decide that their characters should deal with a particular issue. Realism within fiction does make for better reading but is it a requirement?

Writers do need to be careful of inconsistencies as it does throw off a story. Editing is not just about grammar and punctuations but about being coherent.