Responsibility as a creator

[vfaqvrf]

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[Lensing]

It´s only important what´s true for you.
Your responsibility is none of my or anybody´s else business

[helldancer]

Ouch, that's bad. Really, I know how easy it is for minors to get to stuff they're not ready for. But that was also a case when I was in school, and that was... well, let's say quite some years ago. So to sue someone for providing such a story, that seems really off for me. But you're right. Maybe they just wanted to put the blame on someone else...
And in a way that's right, cause you really have easier access to all kind of things through the internet. But for me that just means that children have to been teached about how to handle it in a good and for them healthy way. And not let them learn alone and then be surprised when it wents downhill... (And that goes for all things that can be hurting, not only fictional stories.)
Exactly. When I get to a point I think "oh, no, don't wanna read that", I just stop. And I'm not angry at the one who wrote it. (Okay, one exception: When it's totally unnecessary and disturbs the flow of the story just for adding drama for dramas sake. That would make me pi**ed.)

Definitely.

Understandable! Sorry for you, you had to experience that...
Ah, see, yes, I meant that function.

Yeah, I second that. For the moment I'm just a bit "needy" for readers, but I think we're on the same track here, over all.

One last question:
Du bist auch aus Deutschland? Cooler Zufall.

[UrMom]

Just echoing what remiquise said. I'm super anti-artistic censorship. For me the only responsibility an adult author has is to mark their work as 18+, as much as people want the fiction they consume to be neatly organized filtered, it is ultimately their own responsibility to control what they read.

I personally put of content warnings, as well as unnecessary personal info, because I don't have the energy to deal with backlash from people getting upset about the subjects in my comic, or tell me I'm doing 'Z' wrong. I've also considered putting up a "this is just a work of fiction" statement in case the wrong people find my work and try to sue, apparently there is a real place sharing the same name as an establishment in my story. Whoopee, fun! You also have May Leitz, a horror fan and writer of transgressive horror who uses warnings because she herself has been triggered when being thrusts into disturbing media without warning, but as far as I know her experience is more with videos than books.
On the other hand, though, there are folks like Gretchen Felker-Martin, a transgressive horror writer who never puts up any warnings because for her it is up to the reader to put the book down if it's too much. (Which, yes, the reader should do that if they can't handle the subjects in a piece of fiction.) Gretchen is also known for the type of dark fiction she makes, so it shouldn't be a surprise if a passage in her novel is kinda messed up, you should just put it down or take it in doses if you don't have an iron stomach.

So again, my whole stance is it's not the author's responsibility to babysit their readers, especially if they're adults. Except putting up an age rating for legal reasons. If someone is influenced to do bad stuff because of fiction, or dangerously misses the mark due to their own media illiteracy, or gets extremely parasocial about it, that person shouldn't be consuming fiction to begin with. I would say something about fear mongering or hate speech, but if you have those in your fiction you weren't a moral person to begin with, and it should still be up the the reader how they deal with something like that.

[TheKillingAlice]

Yes, it's been a few years (and I mean over a decade), but I did get involved in some stuff here and there, seeing people overreact big time and the social climate online isn't getting any better lately. If anything, it gets worse.
And it is true, that's why I can somewhat get behind it, but that's also why I blame the parents and hate the way they like to shirk responsibility. New age? Well, you gotta adapt, or stop complaining.
It kind of speaks to a lot of the younger people, especially those screaming for trigger warnings everywhere, when you get the feeling they don't like taking responsibility about anything at all. Not even what they can or can't read, everyone has to watch their step so they don't have to. It may not be everyone, obviously, but it's a very vocal minority and it's getting very annoying. Especially when it comes to art, and stories in particular.
And yes, I know what you mean - if it just doesn't fit, no matter what it is and if I like reading it or not, I would still be pissed off xDD

Waaas, als ob? Okay, das hab ich jetzt nicht kommen sehen. xDDDD

[Lensing]

Na dann können wir uns ja auch auf deutsch unterhalten

[TheKillingAlice]

Was ist mit diesem Thread los? xD

[helldancer]

Ahahahaha, okay, das war jetzt echt unerwartet.

[TheKillingAlice]

Wir müssen den deutschen Server erwischt haben oder so

[kyupol]

As creative people, it should be our responsibility to stand up for freedom of expression.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
-Martin Niemöller-

There are no tyrants if there are no slaves
-Dr Jose Rizal

[allisoncandraw]

I think an author's level of responsibility depends on what themes they're tackling, and how they want themselves and their work to be perceived.

To me, trigger warnings are important. It puts a bad taste in my mouth when an author refuses to use TWs, even if the topics at hand don't upset me personally. I also think an author should be careful about how they approach certain topics so they're not promoting abuse, bigotry, etc. I'm not a fan of work where sensitive content is thrown in there just to be edgy.

But at the end of the day, it's up to the author to decide how they want to approach sensitive subjects. They'll likely receive negative feedback if they choose to be careless, though.