Let's Talk About Warnings

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

First of all, we’d like to apologise for part of yesterday’s post with Kamerreon’s Advice on Writing. The post was copied in full (with permission from the original poster), including the suggestion that slash and femslash are things that should be warned for. We understand that this is offensive, and apologise whole-heartedly to those who were offended. We’d also like to offer this link to explain why, for those for whom it maybe hasn’t been an issue, and don’t understand why it should be.
+ Why warning for slash or femslash is offensive: "Normal stories" vs. slash

At the time of posting this, the original post is still in place. The mods are discussing whether to edit the post to remove issues of sexuality from the warnings section (which entails censoring someone’s work without discussing the changes with them, which we can’t do as she has left fandom and we have no way to contact her), and deleting the post in it’s entirety (which entails deleting the original discussion, as well as the parts of the post that were useful). This decision can’t be made straight away as there are quite a number of mods and we are in different timezones, which delays things, rather. But we want you to know that we are addressing it.


Comments in the post have raised some really good points about warnings, specifically about what to warn for and how. There are no hard and fast rules about this; warning for rape, chan, and character death tend to be standard for those who choose to warn, but not everyone does. We aren’t looking to set any specific guidelines here, but this seems like a really good opportunity to talk about it.

There are a whole lot of things to say about warnings. Here are a few thoughts to get you started:
Why warn? Some people dislike being warned at all, as it can spoil a really fantastic plot twist. Other people would really prefer not to be subjected to an entirely avoidable bout of PTSD.
+ Warnings - The Dead Tree Remix
+ In Defence of Author Control
+ Sexual Assault, Triggering, and Warnings: An Essay (Warning: Very explicit discussion of sexual assault and the nature, anatomy, cause & effect of triggers. Is itself triggery.)
+ I'm no longer a victim, so don't thread me like one!
+ Sorry, but I have to decline

Is "Warning" the best way to describe what we’re doing? What are the alternatives? What are the pros and cons?
+ A shift in usage - Content tags instead of warnings?
+ Warnings vs Trigger Alerts


Here are a few questions to get you started: How do you use warnings? Trigger and/or squick avoidance, content tags, or some combination of the two? Which warnings do you look for and which ones do you expect? Are any of them mandatory or is “choose not to warn” an acceptable creative choice for you? Do you have any HP-specific warnings? Any ship-specific warnings? Are they the same for fic you’re writing as they are for fic you read? Do you have a warnings policy?

For anyone looking for further reading, Metafandom have a Warnings tag at Delicious, which is where some of these links have come from.

Please be aware that there may be triggery comments, both here and at the links.

Comments

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

I'm going to offer a differing point of view than the poster before me.

FWIW, I addressed this "guide" and my impressions of it in my own journal here (http://adjudicated.livejournal.com/421633.html). You'll note, in the comments, that furiosity brought up a really good point about it not always being a good idea to repost others' posts -- because here you are, now having to decide whether or not to alter another person's post because the community isn't on the same wavelength re: warnings.

I will not ever, ever, ever warn for slash, femslash, or het. IMO, if the pairings are listed, then it's common sense that those pairings might be engaging in sexual relations at some point in the fic, especially if the fic is rated R or NC-17. I won't warn for normal behavior. I just won't do it. In fact, on my fandom to-do list is to go over to Skyehawke and remove all the warnings from my fics. I feel like I appropriately list the pairings, and since I pretty much only write R/NC-17, then it's a given there's going to be sexual activity.

OTOH, I don't mind warning for triggery things. I would much rather warn for kinks and rape and mpreg and dub con and bloodletting and BDSM, etc. (I personally don't typically write any of the aforementioned triggery topics, except for dub con). I feel why not err on the side of caution? I'd much rather be courteous than choose warnings as my hill to die on. Sure, I have the absolute right to NOT warn for anything, but it doesn't hurt me to warn, and not being warned for certain things hurts other people. I personally do not enjoy deliberately hurting other people, especially when it's easily avoided.

THAT SAID, there are people who are ridiculous and entitled about their right to be warned. I'm sorry, I'm not warning for bees because someone might be allergic. I'm not warning for crossdressing. Sorry, I just won't. That's why we have the back button on our browser. I'm not going to warn for mention of the word "rape." I'm sorry, but that's an unrealistic expectation on a reader's part, to expect that level of warning. If one is THAT sensitive, then write your own safe fic. As a fanfic writer I can be as courteous as I can manage, but at the end of the day I am not personally responsible for ensuring another's emotional comfort. It's not that I don't care; it's that I just cannot bear that responsibility. No fanfic writer can.

I do think that writers who refuse to warn for anything just because they don't HAVE to are kind of dickheads, tbh. Typically writers who absolutely refuse to list any warnings, especially for very graphic fic, take themselves way too seriously. They're ridiculous in their fanfic iz srs bsns-tude. Because, honestly, it's just fanfic!

As I mentioned, I outlined my disagreements with this guide in general over in my own journal. I don't doubt that this was posted because you -- the mods -- wanted to be helpful. And I appreciate that.

I think that because something is well written doesn't make it necessarily valid or useful. It's really subjective.

:D

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

there are people who are ridiculous and entitled about their right to be warned.

Yes, absolutely. I actually prefer minimal warnings, especially if they're going to spoil the story. I'm one of the rare folks who hates being warned for character death, because then I spend the whole story waiting for someone to die. I'd rather be surprised!

Films and books don't come with warnings. (At least, not in the US.) Nor do they come with ratings, but that's a whole other topic...

That said, I really appreciate the convention of whiting out warnings so that the reader can choose whether or not to read them. I think it's a great middle road.

I don't doubt that this was posted because you -- the mods -- wanted to be helpful. And I appreciate that.

Absolutely agreed. By the time I got to it, people were already having this great discussion about warnings and what should be in them, and I thought, "This is such a great topic for discussion on a fanfic writing comm!"

And LOL, I just saw that you commented on my comment!

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

I also, personally, don't need warnings. For anything. If I encounter something that truly squicks me -- and, yes, I have squicks, mostly bodily functions squicks -- then I either choose to continue reading or I choose not to. It's really that simple. And you know? I have triggery things as part of my life experiences, but I don't feel the need to be warned for them.

Of course just because I don't need warnings doesn't mean someone else won't. It's okay to need warnings, but I think if you're so sensitive that you need a ridiculous level of warnings, then you ought to bear that responsibility yourself (again, see warning for bees or the word rape)

I hadn't thought of the whiteout technique, but it makes a ton of sense. Of course it only works with people who have white as their reading background; I myself happen to have black.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Actually, the way most people do it is to make the text of the warnings white and also highlight those words white, so the background of the page doesn't matter. I guess you could make the warnings any color you wanted, as long as you made the highlight color match. I don't know the code for that offhand, but I've seen it posted in a lot of places. :-)

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

I just posted the code in reply to that comment, if you're after it. :o)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Belated thanks! :-)

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

The true glory of the whiteout strip when used correctly is that it sets both the text AND the background to white, regardless of the standard layout.

*<span style="color:white; background:white;"> Insert Warnings Here </span>*

* Insert Warnings Here *

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

Now this is interesting. It worked correctly when I previewed. Hmm.

[celestlyn.livejournal.com]

Amen!!

[nimrodel-13.livejournal.com]

A+++++++++++++

...be my friend? XD