Fearless writing...

I began watching Breaking Bad as a means of spending some time with one of my teen age sons. I wasn't trying for quality time - no point in going for that at his age - just any time at all will do for now. If I want to be in the same room with him it's either do some gaming - which will never happen in this lifetime  - or watch television. To be clear, Breaking Bad isn't my type of show - I don't mind the violence but I'm not interested in the drug trade or personal corruption; but, I was hooked on the first episode and I have continued to be a dedicated viewer even when my son isn't around.

So, during commercials there is no hope of meaningful conversation with my son who is still at a stage where he only has two responses to me - he either grunts something that is meant to convey an entire conversation or he totally ignores me - that leaves me with no choice but to think. And, I think often about why I'm so into this show. Sure, it's great acting and incredible writing but there are lots of shows - okay, not lots - but other shows with those factors, such that Throne show and the Tudors, and I couldn't stick with them even though I was more inclined toward their themes and eras.

I think that part of what intrigues me with Breaking Bad is that the writers are totally fearless. I don't know where they will go next. Nothing is sacred and nothing is absolute. The wife of the main character has lost her moral compass this last season and is now as skilled at corruption as her morally bereft ex husband (who, by the way, is sinking deeper and deeper into his own previously untapped sociopathic behaviors).

And I believe that's it for me - I see in the writing a boldness that is hesitant in me. I have certainly written some graphic violence in my fiction - I've got a short story about rape, and there are scenes of graphic violence in Cleah; and, Good Enough is about a topic (teen porn) that most don't venture into when writing for the YA audience - so I'm not doing a pretty little linguistic dance around my topics - but I know I haven't explored the outer realms of where my characters can go nor have I broken my own internal boundaries in what I've written ... so far.

Well, I'm halfway through the sequel to The Lost Fury Chronicles, so I've got some genuine opportunities to push my own envelope. Can I do it? What do you think?