Trigger warnings in stories

[LaRascasse]

I know the site does not enforce them and doesn't moderate beyond the standard rules (no underage/bestiality/complete non-consent/spam etc). But is it something that matters to readers?

I'm interested in knowing what is the generally accepted practice on Lit related to trigger warnings. Do you call out stuff like suicide, drug use, mental illness, non-sexual graphic violence among other elements which would get any movie an R rating even if it had no sex? I understand how one or more of these might hit too close to home for a reader and perhaps if they knew beforehand, they would not have read it.

Personally, many of my stories have featured non-sexual adult themes (in addition to the sex, obviously ) and the response to them have been mixed. In at least one case, the reader has politely informed me through private feedback that, had she known what happens to my main character, she would not have gotten so invested in him and that I dredged up some bad memories from her past.

I understand that most people read for escapism and would rather not be reminded of the real world outside their screens while on Lit (especially in the year 2020). Maybe its our responsibility to warn them beforehand where the road goes (even if that telegraphs a crucial plot point).

I suppose we're all adults here and that gives the writer some latitude in this regard. However, would like to know what the generally accepted wisdom is on this.

 

[KeithD]

Not sure what you mean as "call out." I include anything that's extreme in the tags. I then consider it the readers' responsibility to have checked them if they know certain words/images can give them the vapors to the extent that they can't just back out and read something else. I think it's unfortunate that the tags aren't given up front, but they aren't, and readers can jolly well figure out where they are and check on them if they have weak constitutions or aren't adult enough to be reading on an erotica story site.

 

[SimonDoom]

Two questions I don't know the answer to:

1. Do people actually get triggered by the content of stories they read? Is there science or evidence on that?

2. Assuming it happens sometimes, wouldn't it be much less likely to happen at Literotica, where people are (presumably) prepared for the fact that the stories have kinky content, and where they can view the category, title, tagline, and tag to get a pretty good idea of the content without a warning?


Being triggered, to be precise, is not the same as being offended, or being squicked, or finding something distasteful. Being triggered means something has caused actual psychological distress. I don't want my stories to cause people psychological harm, but I have a difficult time believing this happens much or ever among Literotica readers.

Being offended is something else. Readers are offended all the time. But do you as an author have much of an obligation to warn them away from content they might find unpleasant?

I don't believe so. I think you can tell them what they need to know through the category choice and tags. I also think a little surprise is, for me at least, a big part of the pleasure of reading. I personally do not want to read disclaimers or warnings. For me it takes something away from the reading experience.

Authors should feel free to choose either way on this, IMO.

 

[SamScribble]

I'm old. And I'm English. So perhaps I see things differently to those across the pond. But my advice to readers who might be worried by the prospect of running into a dragon (of any complexion) is to avoid going where dragons are sometimes known to roam.

 

[KeithD]

Two questions I don't know the answer to:

1. Do people actually get triggered by the content of stories they read? Is there science or evidence on that?

Occasionally, yes. I've received lectures on AIDs and safe sex on fantasy stroker stories. That isn't news to me. I was in Bangkok in 1985 when a close friend of mine became the first publicly acknowledged AIDs case and death in Thailand. I don't need that lecture--but neither to the responsible adult readers I want for my stories. They were fantasy sex arousal stories, not clinical case studies.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I know the site does not enforce them and doesn't moderate beyond the standard rules (no underage/bestiality/complete non-consent/spam etc). But is it something that matters to readers?

FWIW, the site does occasionally add content warnings on occasion where the category system doesn't provide sufficient warning. AFAIK it's a fairly recent development.

(edit: I misremembered. What happened in the case I was thinking of was that Laurel added a note to the effect of "although people are described as animals in this story, there's no actual bestiality". So more of an anti-warning.)

I'm interested in knowing what is the generally accepted practice on Lit related to trigger warnings. Do you call out stuff like suicide, drug use, mental illness, non-sexual graphic violence among other elements which would get any movie an R rating even if it had no sex? I understand how one or more of these might hit too close to home for a reader and perhaps if they knew beforehand, they would not have read it.

I don't think there is a generally agreed standard.

For myself, I want my stories to be read by people who are likely to enjoy them and not by people who won't enjoy them, so if I'm posting outside Erotic Horror I will try to warn for content that seems likely to upset. One of my recent "Red Scarf" chapters detoured into issues of childhood bullying and body image/disordered eating, which I know is a problem area for some folk, so I did include a brief note warning about that. I can't always predict what's going to be an issue but I try.

One exception to that: I'm not going to warn for the presence of gay content more prominently than I would warn for straight content, and similarly for trans vs. cis characters. I'm aware that these are major squicks for some people, but sometimes fairness overrides reader comfort.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I have received comments from angry readers because I killed off the main characters. I have also had those comments from reader of LW stories. Also one of my stories received a comment because I didn't warn him about incest and the story was in the incest category.

I will warn them about length as I usually don't write short stroke stories. I will also warn them about the story if it's a BTB or RAAC.

Other that those two... nope check the category before you read.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I suppose we're all adults here and that gives the writer some latitude in this regard. However, would like to know what the generally accepted wisdom is on this.

That's the thing - Lit is an adult website containing adult content, and it's reasonable for writers to assume their readers possess the necessary self-management tools to cope with their triggers, and if they don't, they really shouldn't be here. As Sam says, if you're afraid of dragons, don't go where the dragons are.

As for squick warnings - an entirely different thing - those readers just need to grow up and learn what the back key is for.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Two questions I don't know the answer to:

1. Do people actually get triggered by the content of stories they read? Is there science or evidence on that?

Note: the term "trigger" is associated specifically with PTSD. It makes life harder for people with actual PTSD if the term is thrown around casually and imprecisely. "Content warning" is a broader term that encompasses stuff that might be distressing to readers without necessarily being PTSD-related.

There are some elements that, if they come together in just the wrong way, will provoke a sharp and extremely unpleasant anxiety response in me, even in fiction, because it evokes memories of some of the less pleasant episodes of my life. It doesn't happen at all, but when it does it's no fun at all.

I have friends who have similar reactions to other kinds of movie/TV scenes. I know of one very good writer here who was reading one of my stories and sending me enthusiastic feedback chapter by chapter, until she hit a scene that completely derailed her and she had to take a break from the story - I'm not sure whether she ever came back to it.

(I had in fact included a CW on that chapter for some content that I thought might be likely to bother people, but the aspect that derailed her was something entirely different - in hindsight reasonable, but I hadn't anticipated it.)

So people having a sharp unpleasant reaction to story elements certainly is a thing.

There is some argument over whether content warnings do more harm than good. AFAICT the evidence isn't very conclusive either way, but I default to the position of "give adults the information they need to make their own choices".

2. Assuming it happens sometimes, wouldn't it be much less likely to happen at Literotica, where people are (presumably) prepared for the fact that the stories have kinky content, and where they can view the category, title, tagline, and tag to get a pretty good idea of the content without a warning?

These are extremely blunt instruments, especially since many of the issues where warnings might be called for are not directly linked to the erotic theme of the story (which tends to dictate category) and the length/number of these fields is very limited. There's barely enough space in a tagline to advertise the main draw of a story, let alone mention a couple of things that might be bothersome to readers.

 

[stickygirl]

I can see people grumbling about 'snow flakes' and 'shouldn't be here' but people with PTSD or psychological problems often need to test their boundaries. We're not here to write prescriptive re-hab stories, but neither should we turn our backs on people who are, say survivors of 9/11 or Afghanistan.

Don't be too quick to dismiss people who might be doing their best to fit in with mainstream - and sex is surely part of that.

 

[yukonnights]

I'm interested in knowing what is the generally accepted practice on Lit related to trigger warnings. Do you call out stuff like suicide, drug use, mental illness, non-sexual graphic violence among other elements which would get any movie an R rating even if it had no sex? I understand how one or more of these might hit too close to home for a reader and perhaps if they knew beforehand, they would not have read it.

I believe these types of content can easily be outside of that which an average reader would expect. I don't think the question was referencing erotic content as much as these more traumatizing past events.

Probably we've all had one or more of these issues touch our lives. I personally don't get triggered over anything, despite having experienced some of the things in the list above. Since I never include such content in my stories, the issue is not something that applies to me.

But as a reader, I am not put off by 'trigger warnings'. I think they not only give a small reveal of the story, but also reveal a lot about an author's sensitivity and awareness of other people. To that end, I would include them if I were to ever write a story with such content — which I strongly doubt will ever happen. (Unless you count westerns — gotta have some gun-slinging if you're gonna have a real western.)

 

[horrorotic]

Considering we live in the time of the hypersensitive, 24/7 offended and people who look to be offended I'd say the warnings are useless, you can't-and shouldn't have to-list every single thing in your story.

I'd be snarky and say "I'm sure there's something here that will offend someone, you have been warned."

 

[Bramblethorn]

That's the thing - Lit is an adult website containing adult content, and it's reasonable for writers to assume their readers possess the necessary self-management tools to cope with their triggers, and if they don't, they really shouldn't be here. As Sam says, if you're afraid of dragons, don't go where the dragons are.

If people followed that advice, dragons would never get slain.

Bilbo Baggins and his companions were shit-scared of Smaug, just like any sensible person would have been. But they understood two things: "nothing ventured, nothing gained", and "forewarned is forearmed".

They took the time to scout out the Lonely Mountain before charging into battle with Smaug. Bilbo did his reconnaissance, and in the end the information he learned in that recon was key to defeating Smaug.

 

[KeithD]

Note: the term "trigger" is associated specifically with PTSD. It makes life harder for people with actual PTSD if the term is thrown around casually and imprecisely. "Content warning" is a broader term that encompasses stuff that might be distressing to readers without necessarily being PTSD-related.

No it's not. The term, with a broader meaning, has been around for much longer than the term PTSD has. No special interest controls it.

 

[NotWise]

I'm not sure we can predict "triggers" well enough to make the effort worth while.

Check the concurrent thread on holy cows

My last story got a comment to the effect of "this was a 5* story until you made it a three-way." I didn't think it was a three way (it was a voyeur scene), and never would have guessed that would trigger a reader, anyway.

 

[RetroFan]

I give warnings in the disclaimer if the story contains fetish type material such as period sex, but as for non-sexual plots that might upset people I figure that people on the site are adults and they should be able to cope with what they read without being warned in advance.

For example my story 'April Leads Julie Astray' contains themes that some people might find distressing. Lead character Julie was crippled by polio in childhood, while her friend April along with April's brother were subjected to horrifying physical and emotional child abuse in their early years at the hands of their estranged mother, such as being locked in a dark closet, beaten and neglected while their father was away for work. April's father is a nice guy, but he still struggles from memories of having served in the Second World War.

The themes in the story might certainly upset people who had polio, who suffered from child abuse or who served in a war, but should I warn in advance of these themes just in case? I don't think so, and doing so would spoil the story for readers as this information is revealed gradually as the narrative progresses.

 

[KeithD]

Voyeur is a sex act. Thus, if you have someone watching two engaging in sex and that someone is aroused, that someone is part of a threesome.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Considering we live in the time of the hypersensitive, 24/7 offended and people who look to be offended I'd say the warnings are useless, you can't-and shouldn't have to-list every single thing in your story.

I'd be snarky and say "I'm sure there's something here that will offend someone, you have been warned."

I knew another writer who felt that way. We were friendly, too; he was basically a good guy, if a little bit hot-headed.

Then one day I posted a not-very-serious response on a thread he'd started, he took it as a mortal insult, and sent me a PM telling me how much I sucked and that he was leaving the board. I never heard from him again.

It's a pity - I liked the guy, I wasn't trying to bait him, and I certainly wouldn't have posted what I did if I'd known it was going to bother him like it did. But I had no way of knowing, and he wasn't the kind of guy to ask for content warnings.

Just goes to show, sometimes the people who complain the most about snowflake millennials turn out to be surprisingly thin-skinned themselves when they hear the wrong thing at the wrong moment.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I'm not sure we can predict "triggers" well enough to make the effort worth while.

Check the concurrent thread on holy cows

My last story got a comment to the effect of "this was a 5* story until you made it a three-way." I didn't think it was a three way (it was a voyeur scene), and never would have guessed that would trigger a reader, anyway.

That doesn't sound like you did trigger them. "Dislike" != "triggered".

 

[KeithD]

The verb "trigger" isn't limited to dislike. It's just a stimulus for release of something. It can set off pleasant thoughts as well as anything unpleasant.

 

[stickygirl]

"Generally, trigger warnings are given to help prevent people who have experienced trauma from experiencing the trauma again and experiencing mental health symptoms as a result.

The concept of having such a warning stems from research on PTSD. But not everyone agrees with this approach."

PTSD was first described, if not coined as a term, during the first world war. It first appeared in DSM III in 1980

I couldn't find when 'triggered' first appeared unless it refers to Rob Roy's horse

 

[Bramblethorn]

The themes in the story might certainly upset people who had polio, who suffered from child abuse or who served in a war, but should I warn in advance of these themes just in case? I don't think so, and doing so would spoil the story for readers as this information is revealed gradually as the narrative progresses.

There certainly is a trade-off between content warnings and spoilers. I've seen various places adopt various solutions to that dilemma.

For instance, on Ao3 it's mandatory to warn for NC, under-age, major character death, and graphic violence. But as an alternative, authors can label stories as "author chose not to use Archive warnings", which basically means reader beware. I've used that for a couple of my stories where at least one of those warnings applied, but I felt that specifying the content would be too much of a spoiler. Other of my stories are labelled "No Archive warnings apply", meaning that they contain none of those topics.

So somebody who prefers to avoid character death or violence can stick to my kinder, gentler stories, and meanwhile people who are cool with that content can read the darker stuff without being spoiled on the specifics.

Another option used elsewhere is concealed warnings where the user has to click to see them. That lets readers decide for themselves whether their desire for content warnings outweighs the possible loss of surprise.

 

[KeithD]

"Generally, trigger warnings are given to help prevent people who have experienced trauma from experiencing the trauma again and experiencing mental health symptoms as a result.

The concept of having such a warning stems from research on PTSD. But not everyone agrees with this approach."

PTSD was first described, if not coined as a term, during the first world war. It first appeared in DSM III in 1980

I couldn't find when 'triggered' first appeared unless it refers to Rob Roy's horse

The verb "triggered" first appeared in 1916, according to Webster's, and it has a definition and use in English as a mechanism setting something off. It has clear meaning available for general use in writing. It doesn't belong to PTSD.

This is a writing site. Let's just stop this limiting nonsense.

 

[NotWise]

The verb "triggered" first appeared in 1916, according to Webster's, and it has a definition and use in English as a mechanism setting something off. It has clear meaning available for general use in writing. It doesn't belong to PTSD.

This is a writing site. Let's just stop this limiting nonsense.

In colloquial use, I take "trigger" to mean anything that causes a strong emotional reaction. In most of the uses I've seen, it refers to things that an individual strongly dislikes and will respond to.

Even in its restricted use with PTSD, the degree of "triggering" is highly variable. It could mean discomfort, or it could mean an uncontrolled fight-or-flight reaction.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I don't include 'trigger warnings' as such, but I'll often advise readers that a story is going to include some element that is out of societal norms. The most common version being immense, graphic, and bloody violence in my war stories, like The Great Khan.

I once had some nimrod scream at my because my incest story in the Incest/Taboo category didn't include a warning that incest was involved.

I usually just include a note at the beginning that a story involves lots of physical, psychological or emotional violence.