[ CLOSED FOR REVIEWS ]
About 120K fanfictions emerge when you directly type Harry Potter in the search bar at Wattpad.
While some of them are amazing and well worth every reader's time, there are a great many fanfictions which are either too cliché...
This is one aspect that you will find way too much in fanfictions. OC suffers from a disorder and author represents it incorrectly.
Seriously, don't do that. If you don't know what happens when someone has a disorder then just don't fit it in with your story.
There are many mental and health disorders out there but the most common ones which you will find in fanfics are:
Depression
Anxiety
Insomnia (sleeplessness)
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder)
PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress disorder)
Panic disorder
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive disorder)
Suicidal Tendencies
Self Harm
Addiction (drugs, smoking, caffeine etc)
Autism
[I know Autism isn't actually a disorder but people like to portray it as such and so here it goes on in this list].
The main reason why authors assign these disorders to their OCs is to try and make their characters different and also to represent that they support people who suffer from such disorders in their daily life.
But the result of this turns up as a lot different.
Why?
Simple, because authors who write do not suffer from these disorders (usually) so when they write about their character, they tend to look up to literary stereotypes for their representation. They will include a few common symptoms and other than that no significance is given to the cause in the story.
While they think they are doing a great thing writing about people who are different, in reality that isn't the case.
Either they end up romanticizing it or completely ignoring it.
For example, consider an OC Maria. Maria suffers from insomnia, that is she has trouble sleeping at nights. Now there are a lot many types of insomnia which you can search out on Google and it all depends on why the person can't sleep. Either due to nightmares, adverse reactions of any medicine, caffeine addiction and so on and so on.
If the author mentions that Maria has insomnia and shows in the story that she has trouble sleeping and other than that nothing about it is mentioned, then it is a definite no from me.
People who have insomnia also suffer from some after effects such as sleepiness in the day, loss of concentration, tiredness, dark circles round their eyes etc.
But if Maria has insomnia and still she is the most energetic person out there, then I don't think it is a proper, justified representation of the disorder.
And also, let me clear your concepts on disorders as well.
People who have disorders are not disordered. In simple words, people suffering from an ailment, mental or health disorder are not some kind of epidemic that you're going to stay away from. They are normal people with a few differences. And they should not be discriminated for that.
Like I said before: Autism.
Many people associate Autism with disorders and trust me that isn't the case. Autism is in fact a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts.
This is NOT a disorder.
It just means that the child is a bit different and needs a little time to adjust, it does not mean that you will start being away from him/her just because he/she is autistic.
And then comes the MAJOR case of depression, self harm and suicidal tendencies.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
If someone has depression, it does not mean that you will portray him / her as a poor lonely person who desperately needs help. I'm tired of seeing those stories where a girl suffers from depression but she recovers immediately soon as she lays eyes on her Mr Right.
If someone self harms, that does not make them cool or emo, it doesn't mean you're going to write about an OC who self harms because she has no reason to live but stops when she meets the love of her life and everything is lollipops and rainbows and glittery shiny meadows.
If someone attempts to commit suicide just to see their loved ones face once again it is not romantic or lovey dovey at all.
If someone really suffers from any of the above disorders and comes up at your book, they are not going to be happy about that. It will only get them angered that how poorly you have represented them.
Until or unless it is inevitably necessary for your plot and you know how to correctly write about disorders, refrain from adding up disorders in your story.
That way you will be able to avoid more trouble that would surface afterwards.
Even I don't know a lot about disorders and that is why I do not plan on assigning them to any of my characters. If you really want to add them in your story and it is extremely necessary to the plot then stop being lazy and open up Google. You can easily find medical websites and blogs that will assist you in your writing. Do a little research first and then write on it.
***
And that's all for today. It got me a little carried away I think, but I have been so tired of seeing this in fanfictions.
