![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swordageThe recent warnings debate has got me thinking. Thankfully, I've only been exposed to very sensible people (I love my reading list!) who are thoughtful and well-spoken, with a wide variety of viewpoints. As a result, I am revising how I deal with warnings.
I will not lie: I have been in the anti-warnings camp through a mixture of asshattery and privilege. My journal info declares that the content of the journal may be objectionable etc. and should be considered a potential reading hazard; for a while part of my layout did this as well. During my shift to DW I edited the age-restrictions on every single entry. I also have a rating system in place, with an explanation of how I use said system on my journal bio. However, my readers may not see any of these things. They may be linked to a fic directly, or to a style=mine page. They may not read my journal info at all. So, over an unspecified period of time, I will be going through and making warning headers as best I can.
I am privileged enough that I am blind to what I am writing. My best story was both racist and sexist; I have written dub-con without noticing; I forget that Sam/Dean is incest. These are not excuses for not warning. It does mean that my warnings may not be accurate - and on top of this, I do still strongly feel that certain parts of a story should not be stated in the header. As a result, certain warnings may be intentionally vague, such as "potentially triggering issues". I hope this will give a heads-up to readers with known triggers, prepare other readers for the story, and also keep me happy as the author.
I am open to advice! If you can think of a warning for one of my stories, please do let me know. As I said, I am basically oblivious to everything. I'm also totally up for talking about warning and why I'm changing my stance on the issue.
I will not lie: I have been in the anti-warnings camp through a mixture of asshattery and privilege. My journal info declares that the content of the journal may be objectionable etc. and should be considered a potential reading hazard; for a while part of my layout did this as well. During my shift to DW I edited the age-restrictions on every single entry. I also have a rating system in place, with an explanation of how I use said system on my journal bio. However, my readers may not see any of these things. They may be linked to a fic directly, or to a style=mine page. They may not read my journal info at all. So, over an unspecified period of time, I will be going through and making warning headers as best I can.
I am privileged enough that I am blind to what I am writing. My best story was both racist and sexist; I have written dub-con without noticing; I forget that Sam/Dean is incest. These are not excuses for not warning. It does mean that my warnings may not be accurate - and on top of this, I do still strongly feel that certain parts of a story should not be stated in the header. As a result, certain warnings may be intentionally vague, such as "potentially triggering issues". I hope this will give a heads-up to readers with known triggers, prepare other readers for the story, and also keep me happy as the author.
I am open to advice! If you can think of a warning for one of my stories, please do let me know. As I said, I am basically oblivious to everything. I'm also totally up for talking about warning and why I'm changing my stance on the issue.