Wattpad Clichés

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sO my dad/ mom/ guardian/ boyfriend/ girlfriend/ whatever is abusive and after they were caught, I had NO MORE nightmares and was stress free and relieved.

As an author who dedicated a whole story to writing the aftereffects of abuse and domestic violence, I have learnt through research that there are such things like POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) and it's usually a condition developed by survivors of abuse. (PS. SELF PROMO ALERT GO CHECK OUT SOMEWHERE HERE)

Not everything is a happy fairytale right after the abuser gets caught cos there's still mental scars embedded into your brain, and those take time to heal. Thus, abuse survivors are usually more cautious and lonely than your normal human.

JUST READ THE SYMPTOMS OF PTSD OR ANXIETY IN GENERAL PSH.

Also, I hate it whenever the victim is depicted as timid. Shy? Sure, but not everyone will act timid. Why is it that abused boys are always bad boys while the abused girls are usually good girls? Why can't you switch it around? (AHAHAH EXACTLY WHAT I DID IN SOMEWHERE HERE)

Scenario:

He was finally caught after attempting to stab me to death. I let out a sigh of relief. "Everything's okay now,' I murmured tiredly, laying my head on Tom's shoulder.

6 weeks later...

"Wow you're so happy now."

I sent my boyfriend a grin. "I know! Somehow I do not have emtional and mental scars, wow!"

Right, one more point I want to point out.

The abuse seems to unrealistic.

Most authors write abuse as more of a physical thing, like when the MC is being beaten up he or she only describe physical pain, but never how it affects him or her mentally.

You need to remember abuse is not just of physicality, it's also to do with mental health.

Suggested Scenario:

(Insert from Somewhere Here, in a scene where the MC Lana was having a painful flashback about her abuse.)

WARNING: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE, NOTHING DETAILED.

I squeezed my eyelids tightly as sobs racked through my body. The memories and fear came too strong for me to hide. All my plans about not letting anyone find out about my condition went down the drain, all because someone from my painful past has returned.

I whimpered loudly as all around me, the noises and the faces started to fade. I was now in our old condo back in Singapore, where it was deathly silent and dark.

"H-help...," I wept, wrapping my arms around myself tightly.

A figure formed in the shadows not far from me, taking shape of a pot-bellied man, who looked creepily familiar.

A shiver ran down my spine when the figure emerged from the shadows to reveal a cruel pair of brown eyes and a sly smile that was all too familiar.

"N-no! Help! Help me!" I screeched as the figure started tearing through my clothes, manhandling me roughly every time I tried to move away, his hand an iron clapse around my darkening wrist.

see how I focused more on the mental part than the physical part? How I developed more of Lana's mental emotions than the pain of her sexual abuse. Look, I didn't even need to write much about the physical/ sexual abuse to convey the pain.

Okay, well, maybe it isn't that painful an emotion in this short scene, but if you read the whole chapter itself your heart may break. (SELF PROMO ALERT AHAHAHAH)