Next step: Phase Two

Phase Two in my attempt to get closer to God is to step up my writing about this problem, and make a serious start on that novel - a novel about porn addiction. I'm not going to get autobiographical - there's a perfectly good blog for that! - but my experiences, and what I believe could have happened to me if this went unchecked, will certainly be my primary source material.

I have tried to fictionalise this in the past, but things have always ended up heading towards sleaze and cheap titillation, just the kind of things I'm trying to avoid.

What I hope to achieve is to use the medium of story to highlight the issues of porn to the wider world.

Exactly how I do that I'm not sure at the moment; I have some vague ideas about structure, and a half-formed character who is, of course, addicted to porn... but I can't get around the feeling that I need a story on which to hang his descent into, and recovery from, porn addiction. I guess it's just that stories that centre on character growth with little in the way of action are not what I normally read, never mind write.

I think it is reasonable to assume, at this stage anyway, that my target audience would be primarily male (addicts, 'casual users' or potential addicts) and, in view of the subject material, adults (although I acknowledge that this takes out the teenage addicts who could probably do with knowing about this stuff, so it may well change depending on how the thing turns out).

So if there are any adult males out there who read anything other than sci-fi, fantasy or horror novels, I'd love to hear what it is you do like to read in the way of fiction.