Coping with problems

We wouldn’t write stories about people whose lives were perfect, would we? And not simply because noone’s lives are! We like to read about other people’s problems. Sometimes it’s because we want to know how to deal with our own problems; sometimes it’s to remind ourselves that our own problems aren’t so bad; sometimes it’s simply because there’s no drama without problems — no mystery, no suspense, no angst, maybe even no humor!

But it’s not the having problems that’s important — stories show us people overcoming problems. That’s what it’s all about.

In my Young Adult books Secrets have jagged edges and The sharpest edge, people have a number of problems, and some of them are a little unusual — like finding out you’re not human, and dealing with that! Some of them are not so unusual. In this section I look at some of these.

Depression

Abuse

Having an alcoholic parent

Co-dependency