Warning Signs on your Stories?

[Duleigh]

I just had a brave soul that bravely hid behind the mask of anonymity to blast a story he had partially read.

"Sorry, can’t praise you for dropping a completely new and at this moment unrelated story line into the tale."

What he was referring to in Chapter 18 of a long dramatic tale, was a setup for the conclusion of a kidnapping arc which will bring the story to a climax. Simply put, the view shifted from the nervous family at home waiting for the ransom demands to the people that will find the kidnapped person. Foreshadowing. Nothing complex, but this unimaginative soul with the patience of a squirrel on meth came apart

This just pissed me off. Makes me rethink my commitment to this series.

OMG What will I do without his commitment? I know I'm going to put a warning label on my stories from now on

WARNING!
Literary Devices In Use
Readers with pacemakers and low imagination should consult their physician before reading
​

What warning labels do you think you should put on your stories?

 

[PapaRomantic]

WARNING - This writer uses 100 words to say what could be said in 10. Enter at your own risk!

 

[WCSGarland]

Heh. There might be sex within this story....

 

[Kumquatqueen]

One I've used:
...this story "contains men fucking each other, and also British English.

If either of those repulse you, please hit Back now. I have many other stories with only heterosexual or lesbian sex, but I'm afraid the Englishness is unavoidable."

I could warn for high levels of sarcasm, snark and geekery, but that's generally apparent within a couple hundred words.

 

[WCSGarland]

I could warn for high levels of sarcasm, snark and geekery, but that's generally apparent within a couple hundred words.

And here I thought sarcasm, snark, and geekery were supposed to be sexy... go figure.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

And here I thought sarcasm, snark, and geekery were supposed to be sexy... go figure.

It appears to be a niche thing, judging by my small-but-enthusiastic band of followers. Have a look at my catalogue, and hope you find something you enjoy.

 

[WCSGarland]

It appears to be a niche thing, judging by my small-but-enthusiastic band of followers. Have a look at my catalogue, and hope you find something you enjoy.

Touché! I will check out your catalogue.

 

[PennyThompson]

That's a frustrating comment
They're clearly super invested in the story and characters you've created, they want to know what happens next, getting that kind of emotional response from a reader is all I could ever hope for!

Anonymous writers and anonymous readers on an anonymous platform creates a weird dynamic.
(Though personality-based content creation has its own problems, parasocial relationships are dangerous and can turn ugly too.)

I wonder what the right balance is, between creating a sense of human connection without disclosing too much of yourself in a community that values privacy?

 

[MrPixel]

"Yield".

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Warning: Dialogue

-Annie

 

[MiaBabe23]

I just had a brave soul that bravely hid behind the mask of anonymity to blast a story he had partially read.


What he was referring to in Chapter 18 of a long dramatic tale, was a setup for the conclusion of a kidnapping arc which will bring the story to a climax. Simply put, the view shifted from the nervous family at home waiting for the ransom demands to the people that will find the kidnapped person. Foreshadowing. Nothing complex, but this unimaginative soul with the patience of a squirrel on meth came apart



OMG What will I do without his commitment? I know I'm going to put a warning label on my stories from now on

WARNING!
Literary Devices In Use
Readers with pacemakers and low imagination should consult their physician before reading
​

What warning labels do you think you should put on your stories?

Seems they missed and failed to appreciate the point of the new element
Though also sounds like they had enjoyed it up to then
My opinion - viewing others, and especially your fans, with disdain and patronizing them is only your loss

 

[Duleigh]

They're clearly super invested in the story and characters you've created, they want to know what happens next, getting that kind of emotional response from a reader is all I could ever hope for!

If this were a one off, I'd understand this person's complaint, but this is not the first time I've done something like this. He/she/it has supposedly hung through over 634,855 words that I've strung together in this story that constantly changed view points and time after time introduced new characters because on occasion, new characters enter our lives... Maybe he's institutionalized and he doesn't meet new people and isn't allowed a change of location. Or maybe he takes umbridge that this one subchapter takes place in the Okefenokee Swamp, maybe he hates us "redneck" southern boys. I also introduced Grandma Noah who has been in multiple stories, maybe he doesn't like black women. One of the "new Characters" is Roxie who is black too. that could be it.

I'd love to see the mental meltdown he has in Chapter 19 when we see that the twins are being protected by Guoxin, the emperor of the Chinese dragons.

 

[Duleigh]

Seems they missed and failed to appreciate the point of the new element
Though also sounds like they had enjoyed it up to then
My opinion - viewing others, and especially your fans, with disdain and patronizing them is only your loss

No, not a fan. A troll looking for something to attack. You don't publish over 2,000,000 words without discovering the hate that people can have and the bizarre things they'll say to tear down the work of somebody. IF they had bothered to use their Lit username we could have had a conversation, I do it all the time, reach out to contradictory opinions and often we become 'pen pals' but hiding behind a screen of anonymity means you lose out on the chance of having your opinion, no matter how foolish, listened to and reflected on. Yeah I like anonymous compliments, but they're like rain drops, they're everywhere. but a signed comment good or bad in an invitation to become a friend.

 

[TheLobster]

WARNING
DETECTABLE AMOUNTS OF TROPES KNOWN TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO CAUSE CRINGE, INCREDULITY, OR OTHER READERSHIP HARM MAY BE FOUND IN AND AROUND THIS STORY.

CALIFORNIA HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 69420.7​

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I just had a brave soul that bravely hid behind the mask of anonymity to blast a story he had partially read.

What he was referring to in Chapter 18 of a long dramatic tale, was a setup for the conclusion of a kidnapping arc which will bring the story to a climax. Simply put, the view shifted from the nervous family at home waiting for the ransom demands to the people that will find the kidnapped person. Foreshadowing. Nothing complex, but this unimaginative soul with the patience of a squirrel on meth came apart

OMG What will I do without his commitment? I know I'm going to put a warning label on my stories from now on

WARNING!
Literary Devices In Use
Readers with pacemakers and low imagination should consult their physician before reading
​

What warning labels do you think you should put on your stories?

Translation: What can I possibly do to guarantee only positive feedback?

 

[NTR_senpai]

I love my stories that I reading. Most are loving wives or first time or some incest but all cross lots of boundaries with not consensual or coercion sex and some rough and rape her till she liked it kind of stuff. Very non PC obviously but people like what they like and that doesn’t define them. So I often categories them under their main kink. So incest LW etc and I add the warning/disclaimer up from. Some one reads it then wants to slate I’ll have a good laugh at last.

Warning, this jar of Peanuts may contain nuts.

“Never had the urge to eat anyone despite playing a cannibal a few times.”
Anthony Hopkins.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Warning - Characters within this story will likely behave in ways you don't approve of.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I've had these complaints which could have been avoided by a warning.

"Blech. Starts off with a celebration of drugs. No thanks." Warning; two characters indulge in drug use, but it is in the the 70s. Thankfully, we have moved past that
kind of thing nowadays.

"Really needed some affection and emotion. Fucking in the front seat of a truck on the shoulder of the road is not very erotic." Warning: the title is Trucker Mom, so there is going to be a truck involved. "Oh White Freightliner, won't you haul away my pain?"

Freightliner two-axle truck

 

[Tio_Narratore]

We once had a student enroll in a course entitled "Erotic Literature." He then complained when he found sex in the works assigned. His parents complained as well, and, after some lengthy and heated debate, the Dean insisted that the student be allowed to stay in the course but be assigned romance novels to read instead of the required erotic works.

I issued a caveat to my department members when it was time to submit course proposals: "Warning: the Dean may change the readings for your course if anyone complains about them." The Dean was not happy about it, and neither was he happy about the fact that my tenured position kept him from administering the punishment for insubordination he insisted I was due.

 

[lovecraft68]

Here's my story, you can jerk off if you like it, fuck off if you don't. The choice is yours.

 

[StillStunned]

Here's my story, you can jerk off if you like it, fuck off if you don't. The choice is yours.

I have an Author's Note for an as yet unpublished gritty sci-fi Western that says basically the same, but a bit more politely:

"Author’s note: Life on the High Plateau can be unpleasant, and people generally can’t be choosy about where they find pleasure. These stories will contain a variety of sexual acts and desires, including but not necessarily straight, transgender, male-male, female-female, incest, humiliation, watersports and reluctance. If any of these might upset you, turn away now. But if you think you can handle them, welcome to the High Plateau!"

ETA: It's a shame that I even feel the need to add the warning, but let's face it, some readers are going to get huffy if they encounter anything other than heterosexual or, at most, lesbian sex. I'm a straight middle-aged bloke, but I don't think it's fair for anyone who has other preferences to be relegated to a special category. People are people, they have sex, so what?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Warning: Contains polysyllabics.
(Consider that a clue.)​

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't use warnings.

I have posted 64 stories in 8 years.

I have received over 2200 comments, many complimentary, some critical.

Off the top of my head, I cannot recall anybody commenting that I should have warned them about the story content. I've had some say they didn't like content in a story, such as when one reader of a mom-son incest story objected to anal activity -- "no self respecting mom would do that!" IMO, that's not even worth thinking about.

I don't regard the tiny percentage of readers who might actually "benefit" from a warning as warranting my changing the way I do things. I feel they are adequately "warned" by the way I used titles, tags, taglines, and categories.

Surprise, to me, is part of the pleasure of reading.

 

[alohadave]

We just had this thread last week. Is it already time for it again?

 

[PennyThompson]

For my most recent story, Life Drawing for Developing Artists, I included a cooking-style "ingredients list" in my author's notes, inspired by an idea from @NotWise:

Ingredients list (possible mild spoilers):
1 cup romance
1 cup comedy
1/2 cup futanari/cis-female sex
1/4 cup discussion of coercion
1 tbsp cis-male nudity and attraction
1 tsp public nudity
1 pinch orgasm denial

Aside from being -- I think -- adorable, I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from readers who appreciated both the content and the presentation style.

One reader said, basically, "I wasn't looking forward to having a male character get involved in this story, but because of the Ingredients List I decided to jump in anyway, and I really liked it."

Another anonymous commenter said, "Stopped reading as soon as I read cis-male and cis-female," which is extremely funny to me coming from someone reading a futanari fetish story, but if the ingredients list turns off any bigots or transphobes, it's an added bonus as far as I'm concerned

I'm definitely going to keep sharing ingredients going forward.