I got a message from a reader wanting me to do a chapter on abuse. The idea of the overusing of abuse had never occurred to me when I was writing about overused shit, but abuse is a matter I think would best be addressed in a chapter of itself. The words and sentences following are not mine but that of the experienced reader who will remain anonymous.

"I see [abuse] a lot in stories, and it shouldn't be something taken lightly. I was personally abused and I know how it is, and I just don't want people taking it lightly. It is a very serious matter and it can be scar[y]. I've just noticed that in most stories where it happens, they just run away from their problems and don't tell anybody. It's actually not that easy. You constantly remember it, and it is an ongoing thing you have to deal with. So if you do write something about it, just make sure people aren't just putting it in there just to put in there, that they have a purpose for it being there, that they know it is a very serious matter, and to be considerate of other people and what they might be going through or have gone through. It's not a bad thing to write about, it just isn't something you should throw in there to make it "better". And also whenever they tell someone, the other person doesn't do anything about it. That is actually the opposite of what should happen. In my opinion, if they actually went to somebody about the abuse and they did something about it, it would seem more realistic to me."

[Anonymous] messaged me personally requesting that I do this, and there was no way I couldn't address this. Abuse is not something you should consider "cool" because it's not. I'm sure there are many other users like [Anonymous] who have been through this before and feel the same way. Please think through what you write, and if you do choose to write about abuse, be sure that you are comfortable about it and know exactly what you are writing about.