Bodily functions and related issues

I occasionally realize after the fact that I've set up a situation in which someone would not have access to a): toilets, b): tampons, or c): showers with which to wash off the smell of sweat and grime. If I've realized it, the reader might realize it as well, so I sometimes wring a joke out of it, but most of the time, I let it go unmentioned. I'm starting to think I shouldn't just ignore these things, though, so I'd like to ask: under what circumstances do you think a story should address issues that might be gross?

(While I'm at it, I'll tie in a question about a related issue: Bowel Existence Failure. Is it still worth keeping deaths in my stories clean and shit-free if I don't intend them to be noble or glorious?)

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

Dude, just because something happens within the context of the story doesn't mean you should describe it. There's such a thing as descriptive restraint, and it exists for a reason.

"Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person that doesn't get it."

I would mention bathroom activities when something comes up that warrants them being different from what the focus character is used to. I've given characters disabilities and other health problems that make using the bathroom difficult, and not being able to use the bathroom on your own or at all just seems like such a depressing aspect of injury or disability that authors just overlook or don't mention.

edited 24th Feb '12 7:36:57 PM by CrystalGlacia

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

Uh, yeah. It's one of those things that people just assume the characters do off-camera, so to speak. Most people know that people have to relieve themselves, and realize that they may not have access to the facilities typically used when relieving themselves. And most people know what you have to do when nature calls and you're in the middle of the wilderness. So unless it has significance to the characters or plot, it's generally best unmentioned.

As a bit of a general rule of thumb, sometimes things are just best left to the readers' imaginations.

“DAMMIT WHEN I HEAR 'SPACE CQC' ALL I CAN THINK OF IS BIG BOSS WITH A FISHBOWL ON HIS HEAD, STRANGLING AN ASTRONAUT OUTSIDE THE ISS."

To be clear, I'm not wondering whether I should mention such issues in situations where their presence is obvious and easy to account for, but rather in situations where I'm afraid it looks like I completely forgot about them. (For instance, the one about smell comes about because I sometimes have characters professing their attraction to each other when neither have bathed in days.)

edited 24th Feb '12 7:41:09 PM by feotakahari

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

As a matter of fiction if you don't really go the South Park route or for uber-dedication to realism, yeah leave it out. Even non-glorious and/or un-noble deaths can be gruesome enough without throwing that detail in.

edited 24th Feb '12 7:58:00 PM by MajorTom

I've had it in my head that "We need to buy more feminine hygiene products" be a valid excuse to stop at least one Village Of The Week. This mainly has to do with my group being three girls to one guy at the start of the whole Walking the Earth thing.

Unless A: it has value to the story, and B: the characters would notice and comment, anything that is normal can be left out. You don't always have to acknowledge things that are inconvenient unless they are completely, blatantly, obvious.

Nous restons ici.

You can acknowledge that without really undermining the point of the scene. I've read tons of (more eloquent) variations of "they kissed and tasted gross morning breath" and isn't that big of a deal, as long as your handling of the details is appropriate to the tone of the work.

@Feo's potential scene: I think that's the sort of thing that could indeed be acknowledged, potentially with a bit of humor.

"I love you!" "I love you, too!" "Good. Now that we both love each other and know that, allow me to say, with love in my heart, that you absolutely reek." "You too. But you're beautiful anyway." "<3"

...Or words to that effect.

"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~Madrugada

This kills me as well. I don't like using these things as plot devices. It's gross and I don't wanna think about it >_>

Read my stories!

If that's the situation, there's a good chance that neither can actually smell the other's reek. You stop smelling things pretty quickly.

For instance, my dad used to go on months long business trips to Russia. When he came home he'd go to give my mum a lovey-dovey welcome to my mum. And she'd force him to go to the laundry and hose him down because he smelled like rotten cabbages.

You must agree, my plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity! My Tumblr

Yeah, don't you start ignoring a smell if it's been lingering around long enough? And sometimes if you're really focused, you don't really notice until you calm down or the task is over.

I don't refer to bodily functions very often. I think a character is shown urinating like once, because he ends up using his pee to fuel a magic spell. For some reason, vampires don't pee or poop... well, the lack of urine is magic, the lack of poop is their all-liquid diet?

I have a hard time mentioning periods. Minus my dad who is science-y and says stuff like "IT'S A FASCINATING PROCESS!" while I'm complaining about it, I don't bump into a lot of guys who can even think about periods happening without getting a bit squicked. I think the only mention was a gag comic where I am the crankiest person in the world on my period (I feel ashamed of fulfilling the women are irrational on their period stereotype, but bleh), but I was told my sister is sunshine and gumdrops on hers.

Smell... I have a terrible sense of smell so it just doesn't factor into my thought process usually.

If your characters notice it, then you should mention it in the narrative. Otherwise, leave it out. This goes for Bowel Existence Failure too.

Ignore it. All of it. Unless you're writing a hyper-realistic and descriptive novel grounded in reality to the point of being obnoxious to read. I would neither write it in, nor want to read it. Mentioning a shower or two is fine, though.

Making casual mention to them coming out from behind a tree/bush/corner while tying their clothes is just about enough, unless it's relevant to the plot (i.e. Jack gets Cholera. People are now scared of catching the disease, and isolate him). Otherwise, what's the point? Just insure that it's obvious to the audience that the Characters are dealing with these issues without angst, should be okay.

On the note of Bowel Existence Failure; do what feels comfortable. If you have a realistic story, then yes (as stated, though I think hyper-realistic is tad extreme), people who are hung often void their bowels, people wet themselves before they die if they can see it coming, etcetera, etcetera. If you don't want to, then noone will raise hell over the lack of excrement. It really isn't a huge issue for most people.

It's your God, they're your rules, you go to hell." - Mark Twain

This is a good point. It really does come down to the context, themes and genre that frame your story. My story is very gritty, and it contains a great deal of gore, sex and the exposure of bodily fluids that you wouldn't want to see - or smell - while your eating.

Without echoing others too much, it is indeed important to determine the level of realism you want to achieve in your work, if any. The level of necessity is also extremely important, and a good writer should follow conservation of action and plot when inserting or removing bodily functions. The gore, sex and bodily functions in my story are tight and concise. I will never throw them in for no reason.

It's also worth remembering that you won't please everyone who reads your story, and while there is certainly justification for not having bowel movements or menstruation in the narrative framework, the fact of the matter is that your goals and target audience will influence the success of these depictions. For example, a character's violent fits of vomiting might be appropriate for an adult-themed novel, but not for a children's book. For writers like me, part of making characters sincere and genuine means showing the ugly and unpleasant side of their lives. And really, there's a certain point where some people just need to grow up and realize that, yes, sometimes you have to take a shit and people do very embarrassing things with their bodies that they may not have intended.

tl:dr - Don't do it if it isn't plot-relevant. Basically what others have said.

edited 28th Feb '12 5:58:37 PM by Aprilla

A few years ago I started getting really anal about the lack of bowel-voiding in fiction when characters (mainly kids and teens) are faced with dragons, demons, horrors, explosions, gunfire, whatever when in real life many people would have some sort of "slip-up". It's all about tone, and the trope can give a story a pitiful tone or comedic tone or many tones. In an apocalyptic story I wrote, I had several characters do this to show how pathetic the situation was.

In a newer story I'm concocting, every human on earth is reset to a primal state. Realistically many of them would answer Nature's call with little regard to any pants they'd be wearing. I'm still on the fence if I'm going to include this detail or not, but I understand where you're coming from, Feo.

I do love stripping away my characters' dignity. (I owe this in part to The Chocolate War—I was shocked at first by how earthy it got at times, but it really hammered in how weak and fallible the characters were.)

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

You should do it if you feel. I don't know if you'll play it for tragedy (with the embarrassment and crying), but there isn't a lot that kills of dignity than a "fright spill".

^ I'll probably play a lot of it for laughs. (One bit I'm considering right now is in a story that involves a First-Episode Resurrection—at some point, the male lead is going to be told in blunt terms just how undignified his original death was.)

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

One thing I really appreciated when reading The Shamer Chronicles was that the 11 year old heroine peed herself when confronted with a dragon. Definitely added some humanity to her character, and it's nice to have very human characters in fantastic stories.

I will say don't get carried away with it. If it happens too often it loses its effectiveness. My one story eatured it too often and after awhile it just got stupid. The only time it was effective was when the Big Bad did it when the Bigger Bad arrived.