Writing fic about DID/OSDD is tricky
Since dissociation is a constant in my everyday life, and it’s a very isolating experience, I’ve been trying to deal with it (among other methods) by writing fanfic. I suppose having characters I actually like -- rather than myself -- experience this shit helps me cultivate more acceptance for my own struggle, in a weird way.
It’s been challenging, though. I keep “going away” while writing, and waking up (metaphorically and sometimes literally, we apparently decide to physically go to sleep at times) hours later, with a sentence or two of gibberish typed where I was planning on a chapter. Kind of frustrating.
I’ve been thinking about writing a fic that not only deals with general dissociation but has the protagonist experience shifts and have "others”, the way I do for so many years. But I admit I’m scared. It’s so damn hard to write this experience in a way that people who are not dissociative can relate to. And on the other hand, and fellow dissociatives will know this -- the dissociative spectrum is very diverse, and it’s easy to anger someone else whose experience is different than yours and feels misrepresented. DID in particular is often exploited and vilified in popular culture, so it’s a touchy subject for many of us, and we can get defensive. The current state of affairs pisses me off to no end, so I’d hate to make someone else feel that way.
On the other hand... it’s near impossible for me to read DID/OSDD fics whose authors admittedly don’t live with the disorders, and quite clearly derive their knowledge from Wiki or (worse) the “split personality” movie du jour. It’s not that I think you can only ever write about what you’ve experienced, and I do appreciate it when a writer is humble enough to admit right off the bat that they don’t know what they’re talking about, which many do; that’s fine. But it’s easy to miss the mark when writing about this, and we do need better representation. That kind of makes me want to write, not because I’m convinced I’d do a good job, but just to add to the body of work out there that is written from an inside perspective.I might try, but damn, this is some explosive shit.p.s. I’m ancient and have no clue how to reply on tumblr, so my apologies in advance if anyone responds to this.