You know what they say! One man’s tragic flaw is another man’s pretty reasonable personality asset under the circumstances, I guess. Do…do they say that?
imagine going up to stephen fucking king and telling him he’s a terrible fucking person that should kill himself for the morally reprehensible horror novels he writes
TUMBLR REALLY BE LIKE THAT
to be clear, because apparently my point isnt clear: no one came at stephen king. what i was saying is that tumblr goes after baby writers for writing the same shit big time writers do FOR LIKE THEIR WHOLE CAREER. yall really cry foul at horror fic writers for pretty tame shit just cuz it has a morally reprehensible slasher and sex sprinkled delicately on top and stephen king be out here writing shit like the green mile and IT. don’t fucking pretend it’s about morality and keeping fiction safe. yall jus Bullies.
i once saw someone with a clive barker url criticizing a writer for writing things they found morally reprehensible and the irony nearly killed me
clive barker has written some of the most fucked up shit i’ve ever read, and he’s one of the most successful horror writers/directors out there. like… tumblr really be like that
“I think my book would be a good fit for your house–”
“Sorry, we’re not accepting romances.”
“Romance? This…this is a paranormal horror. There’s not even enough humans to have a romance.”
“I don’t know, the bog monster really presents itself as a love interest.”
“The bog monster. Are you serious?”
“It’s got those big arms and a mysterious air to it. Ladies love that.”
“What? Ladies don’t… No, look, that’s not the intention here. It’s an eldritch abomination in the styling of Lovecraft. I think horror fans will really enjoy it.”
“I understand, but I also think romance fans will really enjoy it, making it a romance. We’re not accepting any romances.”
“But that’s–I didn’t write a romance! It’s not a romance!”
“It’s romance-presenting. We’re going to have to pass.”
“Hey, I can’t find my book on your shelf?”
“oh, yeah, it was a romance.”
“…yes? I know, I marketed my book as a romance and made sure it was immediately distinguishable from your other selections like you asked. I even took the time to keep underage readers away from my book. So why is it gone?”
“We don’t want our audience to read romance period.”
“Since when? You’ve never said anything about the other romance books, even the ones that pretended to be Biographies. I’m actually following your rules!”
“People won’t recommend our bookstore if we have even one romance. We’re throwing them all away, marketed correctly or not.”
“But my book is on your shelf! My readers know my book is on your shelf! How are my readers supposed to find my book if you’re banning it?”
“Not my problem. You shouldn’t have written a romance.”
not to get ‘discourse-y’ but the “fiction doesn’t affect reality” crowd must be in contending for the dumbest liberals on this site… anyone who has a literature or writing degree & paid attention in class (or honestly, anyone who paid attention in high school) can tell you that literature has been used to control & to oppress or to protest for centuries… have they not read about propaganda’s role in maintaining dictatorships? narrative of a life of frederick douglass? shakespeare? elie wiesel? how authors write through trauma? religious texts? it’s abundantly clear that these people don’t read…
& let me clarify something: my intention w/ this post isn’t to say “you can’t write x, because x is problematic” or say “writing x makes people do x” because the issue has far more nuance than that. my intention with this post is to say our fictions & our realities are inherently connected, & it is your responsibility the instant you pick up a pen, open a laptop— it is your responsibility as a storyteller, as a writer— to be conscious of what you put out in the world. how will it affect people? why are you writing this story? why do you want people to read it? why do you want to tell it this way? especially when it comes to depiction of a marginalized group of people, especially when it comes to stories that depict atrocities.
ask yourself those questions. your writing will be better for it.
all i want to do is write that one fic that takes people’s breath away and kinda lingers in the back of their minds. i want to write something that makes people want to make art and play with my versions of characters or in the universe i created. i want to be able to create worlds that feel real enough to walk into and write lines that stick with people until they forget where exactly they heard it because it lives in their bones now.
Useless 