Rights and responsibilities

[alicambs]

Something I rather wish I written myself - On Writing Responsibly by laguera25, and here's a paragraph so you can see where she's coming from.

Why is the majority of the fannish onus placed upon the writers? Why do the readers have no responsibility? Why are writers so beholden to spoiler warnings and content warnings, while readers' only

Comments

Actually, I can answer her question :)

[alyburns]

Writers are also readers. How many writers of fanfiction do you know that are not also readers? There is NO onus placed on writers by readers - they are one and the same. What there is, is a large group who appreciate warnings, both as writers and readers, and a group who does not. It's that simple.

Re: Actually, I can answer her question :)

[alicambs]

No, I don't accept it is that simple. It may be within some fandoms, Stargate isn't too bad for an example, but some other fandoms are absolutely ridiculous, almost insulting in what they expect to be warned for, particularly for slash, as if slash itself is inherently evil and disgusting! Plus the response of readers can be mind boggling ridiculous with complaints that a writer didn't warn about A and B - perhaps drug taking that's an intrinsic part of the story and the way a character reacts for example - because the reader doesn't read drug taking - and yes, I've read that exact same statement in regard to a fascinating story that explored the potential dissolution of a character following events they couldn't seem to deal with

Re: Actually, I can answer her question :)

[alyburns]

I think readers can demand anything they want, just as authors can refuse. Personally, other than a weird request once in the TS fandom, I don't recall anyone ever *demanding* warnings. I also think it's pointless to talk about the few who go crazy about warnings. They do not represent the majority of readers and every fandom has them.

It's easy to talk about the extremes - on both sides of the pendulum. But that won't really get us anywhere. Most readers are appreciative of the common warnings - and most writers are more than happy to give them. I think that's both generous and polite in a forum where we have that power. ::shrugs::

PS:

[alyburns]

I feel the need to add one more thing: She very cleverly combines censorship with warnings. They are not the same. The beginning of her essay is wonderful - she lost me when she tried the flim-flam maneuver of implying that warnings are censuring one's writing.

I will never censor what I write, nor will I attempt to censor anyone else's. And by appreciating warnings, using them myself, I refuse even the hint that it's censoring my stories.

"...if we don't like what we read we can express our opinion by pressing the back button and moving on."So very true and accurate. Unfortunately for many, you can get deep into a story you're enjoying only to come up against something that can be very upsetting and yes, you can then hit the back button, but come on, it's now too late. And by upsetting, I mean the major squicks like rape, deathfics, etc

Re: PS:

[alicambs]

So very true and accurate. Unfortunately for many, you can get deep into a story you're enjoying only to come up against something that can be very upsetting and yes, you can then hit the back button, but come on, it's now too late. And by upsetting, I mean the major squicks like rape, deathfics, etc.Yep, but then you can read a death fic like the J/D Wilamakee that's just the most beautifully and sensitively written death fic I've ever come across - and I don't read death fics by choice. I've also read a beautifully written X-files M/K rape fic that was brutal, but also explored the relationship and dynamics between these two men and, over time and pain, took them to the beginning of a shaky understanding of each other and the potential for the beginning of a real relationship. Hey, I've even read a M'K mpreg, and the X-files is one fandom that mpeg seems almost possible - that was surprisingly good and realistic, and mpreg is not a favourite of mine by any long shot. *g* Occasionally going out of your comfort zone takes you places

[byslantedlight]

I don't venture out of Pros very much, so it's always fascinating to read posts like this one, and see what people expect from other fandoms. Makes me fall even more deeply for Pros fandom too *g*

When I pick up a book to read in a bookstore, and read the blurb, maybe flick through the first couple of pages to see if I want to buy it, I don't expect to be warned for all the things that might happen in the story - I might be told that it's a tragic and dark story, and decide whether I'm in the mood for that or not, but I don't expect to be told why it's tragic and dark, or what the outcome of the tragic darkness is, and I guess I apply that to reading (and writing) fanfic as well. I just don't want to be warned what to expect in a story, for me it takes away the whole point of reading it.

And being in the middle of reading Nick Davies' Dark Heart I'm not so sure that it's a good thing to hide too far behind our "comfort zones" either. If the way a reader deals with something is to cover over their eyes when the going gets bad,

I wish I knew why people use 'bookstore'

[alyburns]

purchased fiction as an example in this argument! LOL! It's not the same, will never be the same, can never be the same. We're writers and readers both, in an environment where we're heavily invested in the characters we read and write - far more so than in a strange book we pick up in a book store, curious because of the cover. We have no emotional investment in that book. None. And many folks stick to favorite (trusted) authors in published fiction the same way we do in fanfiction. And if we find a book that looks good, and the hero dies at the end, well, we can handle that a helluva lot better than if Jim, Blair, Jack, Daniel, Bodie or Doyle die because we've only spent a couple of hours immersed in that new book, not years in developing our fanfiction characters

Re: I wish I knew why people use 'bookstore'

[alicambs]

"My business as an author in fanfiction is to think about my fellow readers"

See, I don't agree with that at all. I think your business as a writer is to write the best damn story you can about the characters you love - as I know you do. If you wish to warn readers about x, y and z that's your prerogative and a lot of readers will love you for it while still others like myself would appreciate knowing the pairing, but would prefer the effort going into the provision of a great summary that pulls you into the story yet leaves everything to be discovered.

I have a feeling, Ally that we're just not going to agree on this one!

Re: I wish I knew why people use 'bookstore'

[alyburns]

And disagreeing is cool. :) And why the pairing if not the warnings? *grin* Do you need to know who ends up with whom in a bookstore purchased book?

Sorry, couldn't help that one. *grin* Pairings *are* a form of warning. They're your preferred form. You may not need to know if anyone dies, or is raped, but you *do* like to know A) the pairing and B) a good summary. :)

The 0 Part is nothing *but* warnings. Some of us need nothing more than the name of the author, others need the rating, the pairings, whatever. It's all information the reader needs or prefers, or requires, to make their choice on whether to read it or not.