Today, fellow author and friend, Janet Greger (J.L. Greger), talks about writing sexual harassment in novels.
Sexual harassment is common in the workplace. #MeToo moments are
a way to build empathy in readers for characters and to show, not tell, about what motivates these characters.
The following is an excerpt from the mystery Games
for Couples. It’s closely based on a real incident. The character is
describing “her longest moment” more than twenty years later to her current
partner:
“I seldom speak of it.
I was an assistant professor at Michigan State and up for tenure. My department
head called me at five and ordered me to come to his office at five-thirty.
When I arrived, the main office was empty and dark. There was only a desk light
on in his attached office.”
I closed my eyes and
remembered. “My department head was standing in front of the big arched window
in his office watering his fig tree, which was at least five feet tall. He
turned to me and said, ‘The campus tenure committee doesn’t think you are ready
for tenure unless I provide more details. I don’t want to bow to their whims.’”
Sanders (the character’s
partner) was silent but he put his hand on my shoulder.
“I remember I was
angry. I blurted out, ‘I have twenty publications in scientific journals—more
than enough to win tenure.’ My department head said, ‘They agreed but doubted
your teaching credentials.’ I was even angrier as I pointed out that I’d
received a small teaching award and had favorable reviews from my classes. He
said, ‘Yes, but I didn’t include that info in your file because I didn’t think
those details were necessary. Now I’m too busy to bother.’”
Sanders grip tightened
on my shoulder.
“My department head
stepped toward me and said, ‘There’s an easy way... to gain my cooperation.’
His brown eyes stared expectantly at me as his right hand reached toward me.
The next minute was my longest one. Each second felt like an hour.”
You’ll have to read the novel to learn the character’s
response, but her comment below gives insight into the long-term effect of the
incident.
“I forgave that
department head years ago. What I couldn’t forget was what I learned about
myself… That minute changed me.”
Advice for writers: Dramatic
moments, like the above #MeToo moment, should not be overly long or overpower
the pIot. They are simply tools for developing multi-dimensional characters. As
an author you want to build empathy, not sympathy, for the character.
Games for
Couples has interesting characters and a
strong plot. Here’s a thumbnail sketch:
A
biotechnology company is desperately racing to develop cultured meat
products—meat made from cells in a test tube—-before their competitors.
Disaster strikes. A subject in a clinical trial testing one of their new
cultured meat product dies. Was his death caused by sloppy mistakes made by the
biotechnology company, sabotage by a competitor, or hidden past incidents?
In this mystery, four women react differently to sexual
harassment but all are changed by their #MeToo moments. The book is available
on www.Amazon.com.
J. L. Greger writes is a biologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
who consulted internationally. The pet therapy dog Bug (shown in the picture) in
her novels is exactly like her own stoical Japanese Chin. https://www.jlgreger.com
