Many years ago I read a passage in a young adult book describing how a vampire avoided eating while dining with others. The words of that paragraph rang in my ears, and I unintentionally took it on as advice on how to avoid eating.
This was years before my eating disorder took hold of me, but when I did start to struggle with anorexia the techniques of the fictional vampire became my reality.
I won’t share those techniques here, because I would hate to spread information that proved dangerous.
Now let me be clear that I do not fault the author for only trying to make her character more whole. I’m sure they didn’t intend for their writing to provide fuel for one young woman’s issues.
I do wonder if the book would have truly been worse had it not had that short paragraph.
In the end, a sick mind can twist and turn anything to suit its narrative. Is it realistic to expect authors to be held accountable for how any person interprets their work?
I think it depends on the intent. There are many people who make careers off of saying inflammatory things while remaining ambiguous enough to claim plausible deniability.
Ultimately us authors, and anyone who makes a living through expressing themselves, do have a responsibility to be mindful of the things they say and how they could be interpreted.
I take this responsibility very seriously, but I know I cannot be perfect. I only hope you interpret my words they way they are intended.
I don’t want to encourage any starving vampires.