Banned--I Already See It Coming

I had a friend of mine read over BROKEN and a few chapters of OPHELIA. I expected her to mark a few typos, but otherwise give me the usual friend critique ("OMG, so grrrrrreat!"). Instead, she asked me, "Do you realize how fast these books are going to be banned?"

Needless to say, I hadn't been expecting that reaction. I'm aware of the cussing, violence, sexual themes, and drug use in my writing, but I hadn't really considered my books might get banned because of it. Maybe it's because I've never had a problem with any of that "naughty" stuff in YA books. Or maybe I just had my rose-tinted glasses on.

But does that bother me enough to change it?

Honestly, it doesn't bother me at all. That stuff is all a part of my story. I'm writing the story I want to write, not the story the Prude Brigade wants. If some school/library/book store in Kansas (or Oregon or North Dakota or any other state) wants to stick me on a banned books list, that's cool with me. If the people in that town still want to read my books, they can always get them somewhere else.

While a big part of my writing dream is to entertain people with my stories, I'm still writing for myself. If I change my story to fit someone else's standards, I'm denying myself the pleasure of weaving the story I actually wanted. And that's soul-crushing. I'd rather write what's in my heart and be banned for it than write something I'm not passionate about to keep everyone happy.

AND! If I stripped my characters of their "naughty" behavior, I'd be changing who my characters really are. Skye is short-tempered and quick to jump into a fight. If I took away her violent tendencies, I'd ruin her. She wouldn't be Skye anymore without it. 

Ophelia is a gang member. She sells drugs, uses a few herself, and eventually gets sucked into a violent gang war where a lot of people die. If I took all that away to make sure everyone was happy, the story wouldn't even exist. If I worried about being banned, I couldn't write Ophelia's story at all.

I'm not going to tiptoe around just to keep everyone smiling. I'll write the story I want and if, for some reason, you're so uncomfortable with its content you want it banned, so be it. I won't apologize. I won't take it back. I won't change it.

If your book was banned, how would you feel?

Upset? Angry? Indifferent?

How do you feel about "naughty" elements in YA?

HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!

(If you enjoyed this post, Quinn did a few very similar that you should check out. What Are You Doing? and The Right to Write.)