Reality Check - Arc of Character with Addiction Problem in my WIP

[BWFoster78]

My protagonist develops an addiction to a stimulant. The following is a summary of this story arc through the first two books in the series. I’m looking for any advice at all: how to make it better, is it realistic, anything you want to share.

1. Xan is dreaming, a magical process that he, at this point, has no control over. The process drains his energy. Not only is he not getting any real rest when he sleeps, the process actually uses more mental energy than if he had just stayed awake. Basically, the only real rest he gets is when he’s asleep when the other dreamer isn’t.
2. Obviously, this leaves Xan tired and drained. After a week of dreaming, he begins taking a stimulant to help him function.
3. To establish the dangerous nature of the drug, I show Xan’s furtive behavior when taking the stimulant and later show an apothecary who doesn’t want to sell this “dangerous” substance to him.
4. Xan takes the stimulant over the course of almost two weeks. At the beginning, a single dose worked to keep him alert for an entire day. By the end of the two weeks, he’s using multiple doses at a time.
5. At the end of two weeks, he’s put in a situation where he has no access to the drug. However, at the same time, he learns about what’s happening with the dreaming. He’s able to sleep during the day some and avoid sleeping at night.
6. I show him wanting the drug, but I do not want him, at this point, to be physically addicted. More along the lines of “I really want a drink” than “my body has to have a drink to survive.” I try not to make a huge deal about it or have the lack impact him too much during this time period.
7. Another week passes, and he gets into a situation where he can acquire more of the drug. He lies to get an apothecary to sell it to him. I show him as being really hyper after taking it.
8. Over the course of the rest of the first book, I show him taking seeds occasionally, but I don’t make a big deal about it.
9. At the start of the 2nd book, Xan is alone and without resources, including food, money, or the drug. He discovers that, as a chemical mage, he can stretch food usage by manipulating its chemical reaction inside him to feed his body.
10. He discovers a natural source of the drug, but a small quantity. He thinks: if I can enhance the effect of food, what would happen if I increase the impact of the drug?
11. The increased super drug effect leads him well and truly into addiction.
12. Because of his arrogance, someone close to him dies. The guilt leads him deeper into despair and addiction.
13. It’s important, plotwise, that, though he’s addicted, he’s not shown as having a lot of physical manifestations of the problem in his appearance. I want the love interest’s first sight of him after a long absence to make her be impressed with how much he’s filled out (he’s lanky in the first book). My thinking is that he uses the chemical reactions of the food and his body to increase his muscle mass.
14. As he hits rock bottom, his friends and the love interest draw him back from the abyss. He struggles with it the rest of the series, but he’s kicked the habit. I can always have him relapse if I feel the need.

What do you think?

As always, thanks in advance for your help!

 

[JCFarnham]

Point 6: You often see this stage of addiction in drunks. A good way to emphasis he's not quite there would be for him to resort to using whenever and only when something bad happens. If he can legitimately write it off as "I've had a bad day", then I'd imagine the reader could as well. To top it all of it's not that far from the physical addiction if you think about it but it doesn't have to escalate until you need it. It only escalates when he uses regardless of the situation, when it all seems bad enough that he can only function with it.

Aside from that I think you've got it. It a pretty good representation of addiction, and as long as you don't trivialise it accidentally with other plot elements then you're fine. I'd imagine by the end of it all his addiction should be the pivotal reason for most of the fail moments in your books try-fail cycles.

I especially want to mention the choice of spreading this over a few books. Good choice for the subject matter and as long as it's obvious from book one that it's a series then it'll work fine. Otherwise you may have people thinking... what happened to the addiction? Kind of like what happened to the immortality of the protagonist at the beginning of the John Carter books.

 

[BWFoster78]

good way to emphasis he's not quite there would be for him to resort to using whenever and only when something bad happens. If he can legitimately write it off as "I've had a bad day", then I'd imagine the reader could as well.

This is a good way to think about it.

How about adding, however, when he really needs a pick me up? He's on the road throughout this part of the story, and he's not getting enough sleep. I can show him really in need of staying awake. Then I can combine that with him taking them when he's had something bad happen.

I also, I think, need to show him struggling more with taking them. Right now, he's a bit blase about it. I think I need to show the self justification.

I'd imagine by the end of it all his addiction should be the pivotal reason for most of the fail moments in your books try-fail cycles.

Another good point!

Good choice for the subject matter and as long as it's obvious from book one that it's a series then it'll work fine.

I think it will be obvious. The first book ends with:


Spoiler alert. I tried to hide it in a box, but I don't think it worked.

Spoiler

The reader not knowing if Xan is dead or alive
Both potential love interests hating him
Another main character announcing to Xan's friends that, if Xan isn't dead, they all need to get together, find him, and kill him

 

[JCFarnham]

This is a good way to think about it.

How about adding, however, when he really needs a pick me up? He's on the road throughout this part of the story, and he's not getting enough sleep. I can show him really in need of staying awake. Then I can combine that with him taking them when he's had something bad happen.

I also, I think, need to show him struggling more with taking them. Right now, he's a bit blase about it. I think I need to show the self justification.

That would certainly do the trick. If one ever needs an example of addiction look no further than the blase use of alcohol in the UK. Surely the effects are different, but it's a good base to build up when it comes to writing addiction. The same I imagine with smoking.

 

[Ankari]

I'd like to throw in the obvious distinction between alcoholism and stimulants. Stimulants have a more addictive nature than alcohol as the body learns to work with the stimulant. Alcohol begins as a social activity and is actually a poison in the true sense of the word. Your body works to actively remove alcohol from the bloodstream. Alcohol is more of a mental-dependent addiction where stimulants are a physical addiction. Most readers (disclaimer: I'm one of those readers) will wonder how someone develops a physical dependency on a drug but the withdrawals do not manifest physically?

 

[BWFoster78]

I'd like to throw in the obvious distinction between alcoholism and stimulants. Stimulants have a more addictive nature than alcohol as the body learns to work with the stimulant. Alcohol begins as a social activity and is actually a poison in the true sense of the word. Your body works to actively remove alcohol from the bloodstream. Alcohol is more of a mental-dependent addiction where stimulants are a physical addiction. Most readers (disclaimer: I'm one of those readers) will wonder how someone develops a physical dependency on a drug but the withdrawals do not manifest physically?

I'm no expert on chemical dependency, but my understanding is that:

Addictions develop over time. Very few substances cause immediate addiction.
The rate at which addiction develops is highly dependent on both the individual's susceptability to addiction and on the physical characteristics of the drug.

The question at hand is:

Is it realistic for a person to use a stimulant over the course of a couple of weeks without developing a physical dependency on that substance?

 

[Steerpike]

Is it realistic for a person to use a stimulant over the course of a couple of weeks without developing a physical dependency on that substance?

Yes. Some people can use stimulants for a lot longer than that without developing dependencies. I've read cases of people using cocaine daily over many months and not developing a dependency (in fact they were able to stop using it "cold turkey" without the traditional effects on associates with addiction; I think the majority of cocaine users fall into this category and do not develop physical dependency). In other cases, people seem to become addicted quickly. For a time period as short as two weeks I think it is perfectly realistic not to show a physical dependency.

 

[Ankari]

You have the right to modify the addiction level of anything in your book. The thing to consider is to make sure the pacing of the addiction is consistent. I'll email you my thoughts as pertaining to your story.

 

[BWFoster78]

You have the right to modify the addiction level of anything in your book. The thing to consider is to make sure the pacing of the addiction is consistent. I'll email you my thoughts as pertaining to your story.

I appreciate your thoughts on the subject.

One of the most important functions of a beta reader is to catch anything that doesn't ring true.

For my process, I use your feedback (and that of the other beta readers) to make sure that I'm consistent in my third draft. I definitely don't think I did a good job with it during the 2nd. I want to establish the arc as stated above. Any help you can provide in guiding me to that would be fantastic.

Thanks again!

 

[Kit]

Sound pretty good... a few points that would contribute to the realism:

Show him thinking about the drug more and more as time goes on. How much he wants it, how to get it, how much better he thinks he functions when he's on it, etc. As he gets more addicted, these thoughts would be intruding more and more often. Start ascribing more failures and problems (both large and small) to "This wouldn't be happening if I had my fix," or "I'd be handling this okay if only I had my fix,"

Show him trying to stop at least once, and not being able to. Many people don't really grasp that they are addicted ("I could stop anytime!") until they actually try, and discover that they are hooked worse than they thought. It is also very common for addicts to attempt to stop several times before actually succeeding (if they ever do).

 

[Caged Maiden]

I just want to point out one thing about addiction... while it can be physical, and we've all heard stories, the mentl side is harder to kick.

I smoked for 7 years, and then I quit cold-turkey by conditioning myself. I had a bad thing happen to me, and that night, I attached smoking to it. Every time I wanted cigarette, I thought baout the bad thing, and my desire went away. Stupid? Who knows, that's how I quit cold turkey when I was 22.

Now I'm 32, and I have been smoking again for 6 months. It started as something I'd occasionally do for the last few years, pick up a pack, smoke one or two a day or so, and then stop, just while I was writing out in my back yard.

When I go away camping for four days, I never smoke. I don't even think about it, because my environment is different.

The GI's that got hooked on heroin in Vietnam, kicked their habits and stayed clean for the most part, whereas people who use addictive substances in their homes, have a MUCH harder time. Every time they pass a corner they used to buy it, every time the see a person they used to use with... they think about the drug.

Environmental factors are the biggest thing to overcome, and it's something that brings someone who's been clean for years right back into the throes of rampant addiction. Maybe some of that could factor into his back and forth struggle.

 

[Penpilot]

I don't see any big red flags about this arc.

A few questions to play with.

Do you think Xan maybe has things too easy? He doesn't pay physically in terms of physical degeneration for it and he doesn't starve because of it. Those are two very strong consequences removed, which leaves, I believe, emotion to carry all of the negative consequences. Obviously, I don't know the whole story, but this is the impression I got from the description.

This leads me to what if he did loose weight because of it and then met the love interest? This could be a interesting spot to show her interest in him is not just physical. I'm not opposed to him hiding the physical consequences, through magic or simple disguise, but using magic to totally retard the consequences doesn't work for me. But that's just me.

Also I would suggest, if you haven't already done so, have the drug usage make him frak up once in a while, not major, and maybe even without consequence. Maybe have him get away with a frak up or two by the skin of his teeth. That'll be a nice build up to when stuff does fall apart for him.

Lastly, I think keeping the shadow of that addiction over his head even after he kicks it, is a great idea. From my limited understanding, addiction doesn't disappear. It just goes dormant like a volcano. Sometimes it's forever, but other times, it can awaken and cause all sorts of damage.

Edit: just a thought what if instead of getting skinny as one would think, xan gets chubby instead because he's storing nutrients?

 

[BWFoster78]

Do you think Xan maybe has things too easy? He doesn't pay physically in terms of physical degeneration for it and he doesn't starve because of it. Those are two very strong consequences removed, which leaves, I believe, emotion to carry all of the negative consequences. Obviously, I don't know the whole story, but this is the impression I got from the description.

This is definitely worthy of consideration. I haven't thought much on the consequences of being addicted because I'm pushing those out to book two. There will need to be drastic problems associated with it.

Thanks for the comments!