Forum: Story Discussion and Feedback

Thank you for your reply and yes I fully understand that the genres of the story are not to everyone's taste. I'm glad the codes put you off reading something you obviously wouldn't have enjoyed.

What I don't understand is is why, despite the codes and the description, people still read a story they're not going to like and then give it a low mark mark because they don't like it! Why just not bother reading it in the first place like you did?

"Interracial", especially in combination with NC codes, is also a warning flag that often signifies racist bullshit.

I guess my WIP is going to bomb. It will have codes like slave, interracial (WM/BF), non-consent, etc. It makes the racists the asshole bad guys. So those looking for the typical story with those codes will hate it. Those who might cheer will avoid it. It's a lose-lose for me. Oh well.

Do you really have all the racist shit on-screen?

Yes, it justifies the hero murdering them.

Then use a revenge tag or imply otherwise that it is about righting wrongs.

It's not revenge based on the SOL definition. Vigilante would be closer, not that there's a vigilante tag.

In fact, I just wrote the following not 15 minutes ago:

"I wish I could kill him."

"Trust me," Steele said, "you don't want to. Once you kill someone you're never the same.

The one who said she wanted to kill him would do it out of revenge. Steele is doing it for justice.

You don't need scenes of rape and torture on-screen to convey it happened.

You do if you want to get a certain emotion from the reader. Remember the scene in "A Time to Kill" where the little black girl was raped (I think it was when the lawyer was describing it to the jury)? Remember the graphic scenes in "Amistad?" They were very powerful.

to attract the wrong readership. You know you will.

Except those readers will hate the way it depicts the racists. That's why I said it's a no-win for me.

But I don't care. I don't tiptoe around issues readers may not like. I do what's best for the story.

I believe those scenes were needed in those movies to have the impact they did. Maybe it goes to "show don't tell."

Don't you think the horrific scenes in "Schindler's List" were needed? Watching an innocent person get their brains blown out to show how despicable the Nazis were. Most of my wife's family died in concentration camps. She can't watch those scenes. I still wouldn't remove them.

Are you sure you can predict what kind of audience will enjoy your story more?

Can any of us?

Maybe the Jew-hating racists enjoyed "Schindler's List" and didn't watch the ending. Who knows?

best of luck

Thanks.

The following is what I have [so far] as a warning (using the "notice") on the story's index page.

Characters in this story degrade and abuse African Americans, including using the N-word. The author does not condone it, but it's needed for the plot and to make the characters despicable. It's not intended to offend anyone or any group of people in real life, and that includes white Southerners who are not the way the story depicts. This is fiction.

ETA: Actually, I think I only have one scene where a woman is forced to have sex against her will. All the others is implied. The other explicit sex is consensual. This might be the time to use the "consensual" story code to show it's not all non-consent.

I'm certain the use of the N-word always needs a special notification.

It does in the U.S.

what do people consider the difference is between nonconsensual and rape?

This has come up with my readers more often than I would like. Some think non-consent = rape. Legally it does. But consensual sex with a minor is also rape — legally.

In SOL terminology, rape is a violent, knock-down rape. Non-consent is simply one party not willing, which could be blackmail, coercion, mind control, etc. If I tag a story as non-consent, it simply means that. If it's blackmail, I'll add that code as well.

I always thought consensual was a dumb code to have. After all, if it's not non-consent it's consensual. But as I stated above, I think I'll use the consensual tag in my new story because most of it is consensual yet the other story codes would imply otherwise.

Should they be used to describe each individual sex scene or the story as a whole?

This is another grey area. There's oral sex in my current story but I won't include the "oral" tag. Why? It's a decision I need to make. It happens once in the story so why bother including it?

If you tagged for rape, you won't need the 'non-consensual' warning

Not necessarily true. Someone might search on non-consent. If you don't have that code you don't get found.