Forum: Author Hangout

Okay, I'm probably going to end up doing what I think best anyway, but I would appreciate people's feedback. I do listen when making decisions.

I'm writing a short story that's a Western. I'm struggling with some of the story tags — whether to include them or not.

1. The MC's mother was a prostitute and she grew up in a brothel. It comes up in a flashback, but the story is not about prostitutes or prostitution — so I'm not planning on having the "prostitution" tag.

2. It's a Western so there's another flashback where there's a gunfight where 3 people get shot and die. Also in the scene, one man is rough with the MC (14-yo married female at the time). But I was not going to use the "violence" tag. That's all the violence there is in the story.

3. There's a scene where the bad guy steps on another man's gunshot wound and presses it. But I'm not planning on having the "torture" tag. It's one instance in the entire story.

4. The mother catches her son fucking a sheep (this one is not a flashback). There's no description of it other than his pants are down, he's holding the ewe's tail up, and humping his hips. When the mother screams, he falls down with his hard cock sticking out. I'm not planning on having the bestiality tag.

But readers are adamant about their squicks. Torture. Violence. Bestiality. Are those a reader would not forgive me for not warning them? But, on the other hand, I'd hate to have someone looking for a torture story and be disappointed because it's not a torture story. Same with bestiality or violence. They can hold that against me as well.

So whatcha think?

I would probably skip the ones you mention, for the reasons you mention, but you might add a quick foreword in which you say 'Tags X Y Z P D Q' may apply but appear briefly and are generally incidental to the plot. If those bother you even in brief references, this is a warning.'

That, or use the intentionally vague 'caution' tag.

It's a Western so there's another flashback where there's a gunfight where 3 people get shot and die. Also in the scene, one man is rough with the MC (14-yo married female at the time). But I was not going to use the "violence" tag. That's all the violence there is in the story.

There's a scene where the bad guy steps on another man's gunshot wound and presses it. But I'm not planning on having the "torture" tag. It's one instance in the entire story.

I don't think that All Westerns imply Violence (without needing a Tag). You have three different instances of violence, including Death by violence. IMHO you should have a Violence Tag. Now if you just have a character speak about their deaths; however, I infer you describe the events. Even if only in a flashback.

As described, the other tags are unnecessary. In particular, as described the "torture" is reasonably covered by the Violence Tag.

No matter what you do, someone will get upset.

My personal guideline is that if the story's scenes contain a significant amount of an activity applicable to a code then the relevant code(s) should be listed. However, certain activities have multiple codes, which include a general code and specific codes. If multiple specific codes apply, I would list the general code.

For a long story with numerous types of activities, It may not be possible to list all of the codes due to Lazeez's 50 code limit. In that case, I would only list codes applicable to the main activities in the story.

When it comes to listing codes for squicks, there is no way to win. Personally, I don't want to offend a reader. However, the people who might be offended by a specific activity need to take responsibility for reading stories that may contain the type of activity that bothers them. That is especially true of readers who don't check codes and don't read Introductions/Forwards. They need to avoid reading stories that have sexual content, or if they continue to do so, don't complain about encountering something they consider a squick.

If an author tried to list the code for every possible squick in one of their long stories, they would exceed Lazeez's 50 code limit. Besides, how is an author to know that a reader will be offended by an activity that is commonly accepted as "normal" in stories that describe sexual activities. SOL does not have a list of reader squicks. However if there was such a list, most readers would not enjoy a story that avoids all of the squicks on the list.