Responsibility as a creator

You have to truly ask yourself what is the reason why you are putting the Mature Material in your story. It truly to explore the characters development , world building for the story or it is for self satisfaction? Never try to chase popular trends that you think will make your story popular. After all a\story can influence someone in good ways or bad ways but you must make your intentions clear as an author.

I don't think authors have a moral responsibility for how they tackle sensitive themes. My reasoning is that the writer can never guess how their readers will react to their work.

A story featuring suicide might inspire one reader to seek help for their mental illness, or it might make another reader feel even more alone, potentially even driving them over the edge.

I've heard victims of sexual assault say they find depictions of what they experienced in fiction give them catharsis, make them feel less alone, and help them process their trauma. For many others, the exact same work will trigger their PTSD.

They do have a responsibility to accurately advertise their story, and warn readers if sensitive themes appear. Finally they have a responsibility to make the work good.

I think that creators get too caught up in the idea that they HAVE to address sensitive themes and focus less on creating an actual worthwhile. Now, I'm not saying that sensitive topics can't or shouldn't be talked about in creative work. I'm saying that it doesn't always have to be on the page.

For example, if the primary plot of your story is about a woman leaving a DV relationship, it could be considered appropriate to show everything that happened to her or show enough to make it clear why she HAS to leave. But if that bad relationship isn't a driving factor for the plot, why bother adding it? It can still be referenced or a part of her past, but it doesn't have to be the focus.

yeah... i kind of given up on tapas ,i refuse to give them so much of my hard-earned work just so they can flex on how much content they have ,so I'm bailing out of here

I do think that you should properly warn the audience if there is going to be sensitive topics in the work, it also lets people know upfront if this should be a work that they should avoid. However, since you brought up 18+ stories, I don't really like the idea that the creator has "moral responsibility". Obviously, if you plan on making a serious story, then sensitive topics should be handled with care, and people have the right to critique how it is handled. But I think that critique should be solely tied to the creator's skill and not on their ethics.

But I feel like this also doesn't address the 18+ work that is just indulgent smut, where these topics can also be found but not likely to be addressed with any care. My opinion is that that is also fine, as long as the creator does the proper thing to make it clear to readers that it's just indulgence and not meant to be taken seriously and gives the proper warning labels for any sensitive themes.

This is actually a problem I have with some of the popular romance webcomics. Some of them have quite toxic relationship themes and portrays them as romantic. If the creator just likes writing all that drama and toxicity, that's fine with me, but they should really let other people know in a disclaimer or something that it's just meant to satisfy guilty pleasures and not to use as a blueprint for a real life relationship. In all honesty, I sometimes wonder if the creators are actually aware of how toxic their romance is, or if they are just as oblivious as their fans...

Honestly, it’s not a matter of having a responsibility to say “professionals on a closed course, do not attempt” over any morally bad deed (obviously give warnings about the content, but that is very different) done within the story. The audience will interpret it however they decide to, regardless of authorial intentions, so it’s useless to try and make sure your audience is thinking exactly what you were when writing it.
..that said however, the problems start to arise when the author doesn’t know what they’re writing. Not just in the “Man, that was an inaccurate portrayal of everything” (although you should at least try to be accurate with sensitive matters) but when the author unintentionally writes a very toxic relationship when meaning to write a fluffy cute one, for example.
Most of the really iffy and gross portrayals of heavy themes come about when they’re added superfluously or on accident. It is amazing that people are now able to tackle such themes in fiction much more than they could in the past, but it has started to make some people think every story needs some extremely screwed up, heavy, important issues in it, which leads to it feeling extremely shallow, tacked on, and self indulgent a lot of times. As has been said already, you can even have stuff like this in a story without it being a huge focus, but even if it’s not focused on, it can’t quite be glossed over either.
It’s less a responsibility you have as a person with morals and one you have as a writer who should be writing good stuff, quality wise.

This is a very interesting thread, thank you for bringing up this question in the first place. My friend and I have a WIP which is a historical romance, and because of the setting, all kinds of messed up stuff are brought up. These have been really good advice as to what to do with all of this, how to include it properly in the story, etc. Thank you all!!

@Lensing I think you're confusing this subject unnecessarily. "Responsibility" is an abstract term that can mean anything to anyone. Technically speaking, a creator doesn't even have a "responsibility" to create unless they've signed a contract or a similar legally binding document. There is a distinct difference between "responsibility" and "aspiration".

As far as content goes, whether or not a reader decides to mimic the portrayal of potentially illegal activities is not the author's concern. The line between fiction and reality is quite obvious, and the choice to cross it lies solely with the individual. Asking an author to take "responsibility" for such actions is like blaming a store owner for a customer's shoplifting. Creators are not at fault for their reader's temptations.

I write a bunch of sensitive topics, psychological horror, and horror in general. I have very strong feelings on this matter;

When it comes to writing adult stories for adults... The only moral obligation I see is that 18+ material be marked as such. Anything more and you start going into dangerous "book burning" territory imo. What I've learned from taking my works to adult groups is that everyone takes something different away from your work. No matter how horrific I try and write a scene someone still may find it titillating. I do believe I should be able to write the prospective of a villain and trust my audience can see through the "justifications" the character so confidently spouts, however that is not always going to be the case. People may just take it at face value. I can send a short metaphorical story about a mental illness to someone who works in the field and get back how well I portrayed it and how accurate I had tackled it (not that I needed to since I was taking observations from my own life) and still get someone offended and accuse me not understanding and being tasteless. There is no way I am going to dumb down my work and type out the morals or whatever word for word because some adults lack the comprehension skills to read between the lines. I want to tell a story, sure, but I also want to inspire thought. Emotion. An experience. And the only sure fire way to make sure no one gets the wrong idea about your work is to take a step back and write an authors note explaining everything in a "Please I have the correct and moral way of thinking!" type letter. Media literacy is bad enough as it is, that being expected to assure people are "morally responsible" would be a poison, truly.

So. What of the common arguments I see; "it has to be tasteful" or written with "good intent" (which is a standard I do not agree with)... how can one tell? Who's opinion counts here? Who is the arbiter of what's morally correct to write or not? Where is the line? Is it where Billybob from the bible belt wants it to be-- blocking all LGBTQ content and calling abortions first degree murder so all works must be written with that in mind? Probably not. Is it where you, whoever is reading this, thinks it should be? Well. What makes your opinions more important that anyone else? Or do we simply expect every piece of work to be the author's opinions on the matter? Over all, this paragraph is worthless because it doesn't matter. No. It should not have to be written tastefully, whatever it may be. Did you know, one of the most common fantasies in both men and women is a very horrific crime? I don't know if these forums are okay with me saying the word, but it's probably one of the first 18+ taboo things you think of. Should that not be allowed to be explored in a titillating fashion because it's morally reprehensible? What would this extend to? Can we not write murders in any sort of satisfying way? A heist? Or... just the crimes you, whoever is reading, don't like?

Adults shouldn't need to be babied over such things. Sometimes adults want to explore awful taboo things in a safe environment and that's okay. Dark romance is a popular genre for a reason; and it's not because girlies think abusive relationships are so morally sound and desirable or whatever. Though many don't admit it, many people like dark and messed up stuff. It's interesting. You do just kind of have to trust your audience knows right from wrong at this point and can separate fiction from reality. After all, you're writing for adults, not teens nor kids. If someone chooses to act on some fictional thing you've written that is beyond you at that point and no, you shouldn't feel or be responsible for it.

TL;DR and Point of all that being, the idea of only writing things for the right reason or whatever is akin to censorship in my mind, and censorship is an absolute plague that rots away creativity. The only moral standard you're thinking of writing to is your own, which is your prerogative. That said, all that is why I do believe the moral obligation starts and ends at labeling such content. I can write whatever I wish, explore things that are awful morally in a safe and creative way, all that stuff WHILE readers can stay the heck away from it.

Sorry if this was just a bunch of rambling or doesn't answer your question...