Yes, yes I just did that. I thought the title was cute and funny. Oh well.
Anyway, I'm writing a screenplay and it's about this girl. Lots of screenplays are about girls. Okay, girl isn't right, but she's not exactly a woman. Let's say "young lady." So there's this young lady, and she has been cutting to cope with stress, anxiety, and her lack of control over most outward aspects of her life. You're going to be confused, because she may seem cheerful, but that's after cutting. Leading up to each time she cuts, she gets more withdrawn and fidgety, and then she cuts and she seems happy again.
I don't want you to assume that because she's cutting, she's suicidal and depressed all the time. She's not seeking attention either, she's been hiding the fact that she cuts. Those are both valid things to connect to cutting, psychologically speaking, but that's not her. She's the kind who gets misinterpreted. Pressure needs a release valve, and sometimes that fails, and that's when otherwise stupid things like self-mutilation seems like a good idea.
If you are confused yet, that's good. I want you thinking. I want to make you reevaluate the stereotypes that keep cutters like my character ashamed and in hiding.
