: Re: How can I convey something without going into details? I am considering writing a novel in which society has fallen into a perverse pit of debauchery. This is necessary to the novel, but it

@Sarah872

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You could always elide the worst bits because the characters themselves find them too horrible to dwell on.

"Honey... did they?"
She nodded slowly, a tear trickling down her cheek.

The advantage here is that it activates the reader's imagination, to produce the worst horrors each individual reader can think of. The trick is to convince the reader that you're conveying the characters' discomfort, squeamishness, etc., not your own.

I remember an indelible scene from the original novel The Godfather --not exactly a book to shy away from graphic depictions-- where Tom Hagen goes to visit a Hollywood producer. A child actress is also there with her stage mother. The author manages, with no actual details, to imply that the under-aged actress is being prostituted by her mother to the producer for a shot at fame. It's all much more horrible than some of the other things that happen in the novel (murders, executions) that are described in full detail.

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