Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30952
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Every reader is different, so you can't please everyone. A story that contains graphic depictions of violence, rape, torture, etc is not a story that some folks will want to read (me included, generally). That doesn't mean you shouldn't write it. Rather, let your prospective reader decide whether to read the story.

If the audience understand what they're getting into beforehand, they won't stop when they come across dark content. Either they'll continue into it with correct expectations, or they won't start reading to begin with. You may even find that readers who would be turned off by stumbling across an unexpectedly dark scene will be more accepting of it if they are prepared for it. Conversely, a reader who doesn't know what to expect may get invested in the story only to feel cheated when they run across something so dark to them that it ruins their ability to enjoy the rest of the story.

Now, obviously, you shouldn't tell them exactly everything that is going to happen, because that would spoil the story. The challenge, then, is communicating just enough about the upcoming content to prepare them for it. I often see TV shows and literature with disturbing content prefaced with a content warning. Many of us have seen TV shows that start with "viewer discretion is advised", preceded by a more specific description of the kinds of uncomfortable content to expect in the show. Literature can do the same thing: warn the audience up front of the kinds of dark content it contains that might be off-putting. Simply list the themes, like "graphic depictions of violence, rape, and torture" as I used in my opening paragraph.

Original score: 5