OK, I am not much of a fic reader, but this discussion is making me wonder - how do people find stories they want to read if there aren't tags giving some clue as to what happens in them?

OK, I am not much of a fic reader, but this discussion is making me wonder - how do people find stories they want to read if there aren't tags giving some clue as to what happens in them?

there are tags, but some authors don't like to be specific because they don't want to give away a plot point.

Do you think that putting a warning on fanfic (not books) about something like rape is compromising the writer's artistic integrity?

Oh hell no. When I wrote fanfic, I always put in warnings, both aping the movie warning system and adding additional specific warning about content. Of course, it's been so long since I read any fanfic, I don't know how the communities have evolved. It would seem that there's a lot more fic out there in need of warning than maybe there used to be.

To me, the big difference between "fic" and "books" here is that nobody walks into a Barnes & Noble with the expectation that they're entering a safe community space. Whereas fandom frequently does serve that function, and warnings can be a way of maintaining that.

I think that's a really good way of putting it, Jessica.

For stories posted on the internet, there is no reason an author can't put warnings in whitefont, in a footnote, or in a separate entry on LJ. The writer can also establish a general warnings policy and link to that.

The amount of "but I don't wanna!" in the fact of people's very real pain has depressed the hell out of me. And continues to do so.

Do you think that putting a warning on fanfic (not books) about something like rape is compromising the writer's artistic integrity?

Oh hell no.

Then I admit I'm confused about your previous comment. I was never talking about content in fic.

The amount of "but I don't wanna!" in the fact of people's very real pain has depressed the hell out of me. And continues to do so.

I've seen some I don't wanna!, but mostly from established tools. What I've seen mostly, and granted, this is mainly where/what meta I read, is the desire to look at the potential unintended consequences surrounding some of the suggested implimentations.

I warn if the content seems to demand it. In communities, in my personal space, wherever. I'm very, however, wary of the expectation that warnings be considered an obligation in all spaces, and uncomfortable with the notion that doing so is cost-free or low cost to the author, and that shaming people who do not hold the same beliefs is acceptable. I know too many people with triggers related to behavior/expression control from emotional or physical abuse to *EVER* think that.

I think I see. Sounds rough.

Then I admit I'm confused about your previous comment. I was never talking about content in fic.

I think I still had in mind what connie, I think, had said, about being in the midst of writing and taking into account whether or not what she was writing would be potentially disturbing.

And the fact that I'm still on Sudafed and probably am bollocksing everything up.

I have a strong reaction (and nightmares) to anything involving animal abuse (just Dexter talking about it in the first episode turned me away from that series forever) and I am forever grateful that reviews warned me about (the movie) Amores Perros. So I can see why people would like a little warning if there's something graphic, but I can't imagine expecting an author to outline every single possibility of offensive/triggerish content.

I think I still had in mind what connie, I think, had said, about being in the midst of writing and taking into account whether or not what she was writing would be potentially disturbing.

Regarding that, I've been mulling and don't think it will change what I write. If there has to be blood, blood will flow. I think if there's a situation where I'm doubtful that the milieu make something obvious--if it's a Supernatural story, odds are there's going to be demons and attendant nastiness--I'll go with the whitefont warning. That way someone with a psyche the texture of boiled leather can ignore it and someone else can check to be sure.