Forum: Author Hangout

I just went to SOL's home page to click on the link that will take me to the story I'm currently reading. I wasn't looking at the new stories, but I sometimes check out how people write descriptions and my eyes went to the most recent new story (at the time). The description is:

"Rey was abandoned at a young age by her mother, then her father. She hid at their family home that was right behind a gas station until she had no choice but to run it to earn money to pay back the bank. As she grew older, she realized the men coming by wanted more than just gas. She began sleeping them customers for money to one day pay off her home and business as her own. Tonight, someone comes in that she's strangely drawn to, but she doesn't know why."

I sometimes read descriptions simply to see how well or poorly they're written. I learn from both. The last line of the description has something to pique the reader's interest — "that she's strangely drawn to, but she doesn't know why." That's really good. However, the story codes include "Incest, Father, Daughter".

I love surprises and twists in short stories. That's one of the things that makes them great. Think O. Henry. But the story codes destroy that surprise (I'm assuming since I hadn't read the story).

Should the author have included the story codes "Father, Daughter"?

I really appreciate this dilemma and look forward to what other folks say. I've often been tempted to include the "caution" tag but that has problems itself.

In this case, I would not have included the Father/Daughter tags. I would have vacillated for a long time about "caution" vs. "incest" and probably come down on the "incest" side.

Story codes are a Chekov's Gun, one that must be fired. Thus, seeing them tells you something specific is going to happen. 'Caution,' though, just tells you something potentially bothersome is going to happen.

For that reason, I would pick 'caution', combined with a note saying something along the lines of 'This story may trigger one or more things normally warned about by story codes. If any code is a trigger for you, you are welcome to contact me and see if it applies.'

'Incest' is still too much. That implies the strangely attractive stranger is a relative. Process of elimination would get it down to uncle or father very quickly. It's possible some people are triggered differently by one vs the other, but it's so close that 'caution' is the right answer.

That's not a get-out-of-jail-free card, but it's the best one can do, I think. Obviously, one can code anything 'caution,' but it's also fair. I don't think the intent of codes is to destroy the element of surprise, just allow people who don't like certain surprises to avoid them.

One other idea (but much more technically complicated): a 'visible' set of codes and a 'complete' set of codes. If one says 'no incest' in preferences, the 'complete' set filters it. If one does not, the 'visible' set doesn't tip the story's hand.

I have no faith that authors would properly use the two sets, though. And readers might still be upset. But it's at least an attempt to solve the problem.