Please stop writing stories about child abuse

Alright, first off, never tell writers what to write about; that sucks. Secondly, if a certain topic offends you, don't write it and move on (there are trigger warnings flairs on NoSleep that indicate that).

You speak about real authors. Everyone writing here is a real author, some choose to monetize their work and others have major projects in the works (films, novels, etc.).

You can't do anything original because everything's been written already. You're just putting a personal twist on a topic.

Real authors? Just curious about the blatant disrespect here.

Also, all posts are flagged with a flair. If you don't want to read the material, feel free to keep scrolling :)

Well you left the sub anyways, so now you won’t have to worry about the horror of reading something you, personally, do not enjoy… but felt self important enough to make a whole post about it literally titled “please stop doing this specific thing” but you’re not telling anyone what to do. Okay.

Either you're living up to your name or you wildly overestimated what "real authors" think of your opinion.

I've never been raped, and that's scary as fuck to me.

I've never been possessed, thats scary as fuck to me.

I've never been murderd, and that's scary as fuck to me.

I was abused as a kid, and that's scary as fuck to me.

These are pretty common tropes and yet they're scary, not overused. Part of horror is relating or not relating to the scary stuff.

Yeah, you’re an asshole. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Just quit being a dick and go somewhere where everyone likes you bossing them about, because it certainly isn’t here. And don’t you dare come telling us what to write.

The thing about feedback is that it remains subjective. You don't like stories that involve child abuse. That's totally fine. If you see a story with Child Abuse flair, pass it by. If child abuse comes up in a story without a flair, move along. I inherently don't mind a bit that you dropped by to tell everyone you don't like it and wish they would quit. You are just insulting about your delivery and live up to your namesake.

I'd imagine there are a great many things on NoSleep that could cause someone to have an episode of PTSD. Everyone in the world has some kind of trigger that could cause them emotional pain, panic attacks, or PTSD episodes. It isn't a realistic expectation for you to expect the world to carry the weight of your personal triggers.

There are plenty of unique stories here, but as my friend GTM likes to say, there is nothing new under the sun. Tossing around story types being overdone is overdone itself. You already said people can write what they want to write, so why ask them to stop?

There are plenty of "real authors" here making money as it is. Insinuating that the authors here are "real authors" is pretty silly. You talked about how the definition of author disagreed with u/A_Hawaiian_Shirt, so I looked it up myself.

According to Merriam-Webster:

author noun

1 : the writer of a literary work (such as a book)

a famous author

2 a : one that originates or creates something

software authors

film authors

the author of this crime

According to copyright.gov, operated by the U.S. Copyright Office, a literary works can be both fictional and non-fictional (not including plays, dramas, and screenplays).

Looks like the people writing short fiction here are real authors.

Push by Sapphire.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

A Child Called "It" by David Pelzer

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews.

All books about or strongly involving child abuse. Some memoirs. Some fiction. All best sellers. Real authors have tread that ground and made money.

I think my short story 'I thought My Sister Had An Eating Disorder' has triggered this haha... I worked with the subreddit to censor the story for the viewers as many complaints were apparently received, and I was glad to help.

That said, I wrote the story about abuse because I myself am a CSA survivor and it is personally cathartic for me to write about, and I feel the subject itself is never written about with the true sense of horror and feeling that we survivors are able to touch upon. Leda's experiences are drawn from my own childhood life; though the events were different, the response and pain was the same.

It's kind of insulting and upsetting when people make assumptions about why authors may write about these topics or tar everybody with the same brush. And I certainly don't think it's more over or underdone than any other topic on this subreddit

I intend to write a sequel to my story and anticipate similar backlash again, which I find frustrating as for me my experiences and my horror writing and are always an undercurrent no matter the subject because it's who I am as a human being. I empathise with and respect those who don't wish to read about these topics but I and other writers should have liberty to write what and how we wish

Saw this post when it has no comments and waited to see the reaction. It’s exactly as I imagined it would be. I suggest learning how to inspire debate and discussion rather than act like a child making demands of people. Something about catching more flies with honey than vinegar. Just a thought.

Just adding a reminder here that all comments on both sides need to remain civil and comments found not to be will be removed. Repeated offenses will result in a ban from the subreddit.

I think it’s wild that you chose to be so condescending in a post to the writers of nosleep that you just went ahead and assumed that none of the writers who write stories which deal with child abuse are “real authors who make money.”

I'm assuming this is at least partly directed at me, given the recent story I posted about children going missing. Thing is... OP, I actually do sympathize with your opinion a lot.

Personally, I don't read stories about rape or child molestation, because I know way too many people IRL who have experienced that, including family and close friends. And it is very rarely that I come across writing that does these subjects justice. So I think there's a discussion to be had about art vs exploitation. My personal feeling is that some subjects just shouldn't be in "light entertainment" (which is what I consider most of NS to be). And I'm open to the discussion about whether stories, including my own, cross the line.

But... I also understand that the line for me is not the same as it is for everyone else. Which is why there are trigger warnings.

You should easily be able to avoid stories about child abuse by simply skipping the ones with the child abuse flair (or if they're series, look for the trigger warning in the opening).

Just don't read them. There's so much other material on this site.

lol lmao

I'll argue that stories involving child abuse might benefit from having a few extra warnings, depending on the content. I certainly wish I had never read Third Parent by Elias Witherow. That story/series is so overtly graphic in its merciless depiction of EXTREME child sexual abuse that I'm a little surprised, even now, that r/Nosleep allowed it to stay up.

But that aside, the act of writing can be therapeutic for people who have suffered such things, so there's that to consider.

As a different perspective for you to consider:

I experience dissociation, depersonalization and derealization. I have a fun mix of mental health issues that come in the form of fun little things like "never look in a mirror because all mirrors are secret cameras recording you".

Unreality can be a trigger for me. I could easily use your argument to say "nobody write for NoSleep actually because we all roleplay and pretend it's real and that's triggering to my DPDR". I could say "stop using twists that make you wonder whether OP is imagining things because that's a let down for me because I already experience that."

But here's the thing: i, and all other readers, have no idea of the authors motivation to write what they did. Maybe they're processing their own mental illness. Maybe they're working through their own trauma. Maybe they're taking something they experienced and reworking it into something positive as a therapy exercise. Or maybe they just like certain horror tropes! I grew up reading Virginia Andrews and Richard Laymon, sometimes taboo subjects are popular.

I also grew up reading and writing fanfiction, and I feel like the golden rule from fanfic is often forgotten these days: "Don't like, don't read!"

Telling authors what they can and can't write about will never work. And yes, even when you post "well i can't actually stop you writing what you want", you can't expect people to not get offended when many popular and new writers alike cover these topics. Its a little hard to tell with the ragebait username and posts about liking being down voted, whether this is a genuine complaint or not. But when I stumble across fics I don't like (and man AO3 has some wild ones) i just vent in private to my friends rather than complain where authors can see me. There's other people on the side of the screen and just because one thing is triggering to you, doesn't mean you can guilt trip what other people write about.

Otherwise we tumble down the road that has politicians taking books out of schools to "protect the children". And I'd rather read 100 clunky child abuse stories than side with the people promoting unfair censorship.

Just my two cents to think about!