busyMy own stance is flexible. I tend to think in terms of tags rather than warnings: a nutshell list of things in a story that people might like or dislike enough to influence whether they choose to read further. Because I don't know exactly what will be which for whom. What I do try is to avoid accidentally dumping an unsuspecting reader into a piece of writing that will hurt them. Yes, I have done that. I've written things that hurt people badly, and most of those were friends because that's who read my work before I'd made enough of those mistakes to learn how to be fairly careful with it.
So I watch for the kind of things that are required warnings on major services, or things that are very commonly requested that people mention, or things that I know perfectly well are perilous whether or not anyone else has figured that out. I also warn for cluster effects, because it often makes a difference if there's just one squicky thing vs. a whole lot, so if you see "Warn ALL the things!" that means the story is an angst-ridden triggerfest of fractal doom.
Because what I want out of this? Is to be able to write whatever the heck my inspiration takes me to, and present that array to my audience in a way that allows people to figure out, fairly safely, what they want to read and what they do not want to read. My audience is pretty robust or they wouldn't be reading me in the first place, but I also know that I have folks who have survived things that, frankly, could be expected to turn the average hero into deep-fried hamburger. I don't go crazy with warnings. I do consider, is this heavy enough that I wouldn't want to read it on a bad day? Does it have something that usually makes a wide range of people uncomfortable? Does it have a narrower trigger but one I know my audience is especially vulnerable to? That's when I bring out the warning labels in my own blog. If I'm doing a fest or posting on a service, and their framework is tag-happy or requires specific types of warnings, I can usually accommodate that too.
February 5 2013, 14:57:48 UTC 8 years ago
Sadly, the only thing that comes to mind is that the phrase "angst-ridden triggerfest of fractal doom" makes me amazingly happy and I want to link to this post because of it.
Thank you!
February 5 2013, 16:10:12 UTC 8 years ago
>>Sadly, the only thing that comes to mind is that the phrase "angst-ridden triggerfest of fractal doom" makes me amazingly happy and I want to link to this post because of it.<<
*chuckle* Go for it.
When I wrote that, I was thinking of things like "Rigging the Game" which contains detailed descriptions of assorted violent and sexist activity, often described with an eye toward expressing certain characters' enjoyment of same. Sometimes the stuff just adds up to a pile that a lot of people would think twice about before poking, and I want them to know that ... I just couldn't resist the colorful description. I like playing with tags a little, as long as they remain clear.
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Yes...
February 5 2013, 16:52:36 UTC 8 years ago
That is especially true for PTSD with its tendency to acquire secondary triggers during flashbacks or other episodes. A barbecue triggers a traumatic memory of a wildfire. And then barbecue becomes a trigger, and the whole thing snowballs onward.
>>It's very rarely open, clear discussion or mention of something directly related to one of those memories that brings them up.<<
However, some categories like "child abuse" may suggest a higher likelihood of ancillary triggers (pink dresses, teddy bears, etc.) than a story not about such topics at all. One thing I find about a well-crafted set of tags is that it creates kind of a holographic summary of the story. I have very rarely been badly surprised by a story with a thorough tag set. I can read between the lines.
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Re: Yes...
February 6 2013, 09:24:15 UTC 8 years ago
February 5 2013, 23:03:00 UTC 8 years ago
*nod* And that's why I read these discussions, as I constantly seek to refine my abilities to meet these goals. Thank you for this.
You're welcome!
February 6 2013, 00:22:43 UTC 8 years ago
Yeah, that's why I read these discussions periodically too, for updates on how people are thinking about the decision process.