I know the people who stop by here on a regular basis are not trigger-warning type people. We venture into the world without much of a care what other people say and we tend not to get offended by offhand comments. If we read something that doesn't sit right with us, we close the book and move onto something else without it harshing our lives.
I don't have trigger warnings on my books. As a lark, before my last freebie offering, I put a warning on SLEEPING UGLY - something to the effect of WARNING: The main character of this book has a potty mouth. Because she does and some people take issue with curse words. I took it off there this morning. Like I said, it was a lark and I didn't want it to stick. I haven't yet gotten a bad review due to curse words, but should it happen, then it happens. The book is what it is.
FERTILE GROUND centers around the hunt for a serial rapist. It should be clear from the blurb, so if a person has issues with the subject, they should be able to suss out that this book isn't for them. I hope they don't turn away from the book because of that. It really does have a satisfying end. Also, I do not go into any details in any of my scenes to show actual rapes, because I do have a problem with that. It's more 'behind closed doors' and the after effects of said rape*.
I'm a firm believer that we shouldn't hide from things that bother us. Yank that shit out in the open, explore why it bothers me, find the cause, and then tuck it back away. I mean, you don't have to invite it to sit in your living room, but you should at least know what bothers you and why.
So, I guess you shouldn't expect any trigger warnings from me. If you're triggered easily, my books probably aren't for you. There's swearing and violence and ideas you may or may not be offended by (not all of these in every book... your mileage my vary).
What do you think of trigger warnings? Do you use them? Do you need them?
* I have seen where people are now using asterisks in the word rape because even the word is a trigger. I don't ascribe to that thinking. I'm also now shying away from using asterisks in the word fuck. Are people really less offended by f*** than the the word fuck? Not sure what the rational is behind that. Anyone above the age of 8-9 know what's behind the asterisks, don't they? My friends and I were liberally using the word on the playground in fifth grade.
I have a theory about the asterisk. It could be due to alleged triggers but I think it's used to avoid triggering the algorithm bots that either gets you put in social media jail or puts your content waaaaay "below the fold," as they say in the newspaper busines. Of course, there are so few printed newspapers anymore that the term probably doesn't apply. Maybe change that to "Page 10" in the search engine.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm not triggered despite diagnosed PTSD and past careers. And I write dark-n-dirty in some of my books. There's assualt (domestic and otherwise), murder, and mayhem in the upcoming book, though this time around, there's not much cussing or graphic sex. Which is weird for a "mafia" book--at least by today's standards.
I also don't see a need for trigger warnings in descriptions. Hello! That's what descriptions are for. The only warning I've used is NSFW because an image or passage might be frowned upon by bosses or co-workers. That does NOT apply to my books. Oh. Wait! I have used a line that start's WARNING: in the blurb of some of my books. As part of the blurb, followed by the tag line.
Good topic and you are preachin' to this choir! 😉