Why I Hate Fanfiction

Writing Mentally Ill Characters

Now I'm sure as hell not a fucken expert on this topic but I feel like next to no one actually knows how to write mental illness into a character, and is often misrepresented.

One thing I definitely hate about the oc/fanfiction community is the need for your character to have the shittiest life. I'm not saying shitty things happen to people, it's just used way too often, only written for pity points, and basically has no impact on the character itself. For example, if your character was raped, I highly doubt they would be overtly sexual and/or very optimistic much anymore(idk I haven't looked up how people act if they have been raped, I'm just assuming rn). Like I just won't ever get why people have to make their characters feel special n shit and not a normal person like most people.

Okay, y'all may be thinking, so how the fuck do I write a character with a mental illness? Well the first step is to definetly research what mental illness your character has extensively, unless you have personal experience with it(like a family member or you have it, though you should still research a bit). You need to learn how people are affected by such things so that you can effectively write your character.

Next step, is probably to write and ask for critique, since experience is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to learn. Plus it may help you grow thicker skin as a writer, because if you can't take some kind of criticism, there is no way you would survive in the artistic world. It may also teach you not to bitch and moan when someone doesn't like your character and/or writing style.

One thing that comes with the horror genre, prolly my favorite if I'm gonna be honest here, is a shit ton of misrepresentation of mental illness. Many serial killers in fiction tend to have schizophrenia, which isn't bad in itself, but it portrays and gives people a small nod that says that all schizophrenics are gonna fucken axe murder you. Which sure, some serial killers in real life may have had schizophrenia, but the impression that some fiction writers but plants that seed of doubt in every schizophrenic. To combat this in your writing, I suggest writing a good character with the same mental illness. Say you're slasher has schizophrenia, perhaps give the main character or an import side character schizophrenia as well and show the other side of the mental illness.

Oof, that's about all I can write about this topic. I kind of wanted to make this more of an informative chapter rather than me fucken bashing on people. I'm thinking about making a what to avoid when writing chapter about Naruto since I'm a fucken Narutard and a huge as fuck weeb. It'll prolly just be filled with memes, lmao. Peace out homies.