Bambi in the Headlights: Thoughts on Disclaimers

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Title:	Bambi in the Headlights: Thoughts on Disclaimers
Creator:	Thamiris
Date(s):	December 6, 2001
Medium:	LiveJournal post
Fandom:
Topic:
External Links:	Bambi in the Headlights: Thoughts on Disclaimers; archive link
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Bambi in the Headlights: Thoughts on Disclaimers is a 2001 essay by Thamiris.

Some Topics Discussed

• fanfiction writing and disclaimers
• taking risks
• writing for one's self

The Essay

Not everyone likes my stories. I learned this a few years ago, when I started writing. Most authors eventually realize this, no matter how many LoCs they receive. Yeah, I want readers, and yeah, I hope they look at my fic and see something worthwhile.

But I don't owe readers sweet fuck all. I don't have a contract with them; the feedback isn't payment for services rendered. I'm not employed by my audience to write. I'm not indebted to them in any way. This isn't the Middle Ages, and the fannish community is not my patron.

No, it's my story, written for me, and if you see something in it that touches you, then I'm thrilled. But it's not up to me to thrill you; that's a perk you might get when you read my fiction. And hell, maybe you don't even want a thrill. How the hell should I know? Which is why I don't write for you, but for me.

I can't predict an audience's response. Even within fandom, the potential readership has a wide base. Some of those people, the gentle, Bambi-sh souls, need disclaimers to spare them from the trauma of reading nasties. Others like disclaimers as lures (pairings, ratings, etc). Still others don't give a shit, and will read a story based on relatively fluid criteria, who care more about how I tell a story than how I fit into their story template.

Those are the readers I want: smart, sophisticated adults who know that my stories might disturb them, or anger them, as much for any possible kink as for romantic schmoop. (And with my stories, you might get either, none, or both). I'm excited to have them, and I'll eagerly thank them for freely sharing their response to my work.

So how will disclaimers help me? The idea that I'll lose out without proper disclaimers is ridiculous: I get plenty of feedback whether or not I include adequate ones. I know, because I've tried both. As I suggested above, disclaimers often scare away readers as often as they draw them in.

If you're rejecting a story because you're scared, that's your loss, not the author's. The author will love the story and will hear from kick-ass, generous readers who love it, too.

We all make choices, and some of us care about storytelling, about losing ourselves in fiction, of giving up to the fucking wolfishness of it, of being *taken* by a story, not having our hand held as we walk timidly through the woods.

Fan Comments at the Post

[squashed]: As a writer I hate warnings because it feels like I'm spoiling any impact the story might have. As a reader, I don't like them for the same reason. I like being suprised, saddened, made to laugh, turned on, etc. without a warning that any of that might happen or being told that it will -- I can't stand it when I'm told to get out the kleenex or not to eat anything because I'm going to spray my monitor from laughing or I'll need a fire extinguisher by an author. If any of that is true, great, but it won't be because they've told me that's how it's going to be. You're writerly responsibility to me as a reader -- to write the best damn story you can. And that's my responsibility as a writer as well. And I'm all wound up about something else and so going to end this before it leaks through too much ;)

[zortified]: While I agree with almost everything you've said, let me ask this - as a reader, what if I'm desperately in need of a story which has X in it? To fit my mood (maybe I'm depressed and need a laugh, or angry and need fluffy romance, or whatever). I'd like to be able to locate one such story, by reading labels.

As a writer, do you care if I skip a story of yours which would fit my bill perfectly, because I didn't know it was X-ish?

It's the attitude that the reader should read unlabeled stories anyway, that irks me. If I'm depressed, I don't want to read a story that's going to make me feel worse. And I'll resent the accusation (and I'm not saying you're making this accusation) that I'm somehow less of a reader for wanting to read something that fits my mood.

I'm happy with both sides of the issue - if you don't want to label, don't. If you don't want to read unlabeled, don't. But I don't like the attitudes on certain irritating lists that either side should accommodate the other. Readers aren't entitled to enjoy every story, and writers aren't entitled to entertain every reader.

[Thamaris]: James, I do totally understand you, and if fca-l didn't irritate me to tears, I would've sent in a message applauding the practicality of your message there.

The thing is, I can't really imagine being in the mood for a story before I know what the story is. I mean, if it's good, then I don't really even notice things like genre and suchlike.

When I see a story, I don't step back and determine how it fits in with my mood; I just start reading and either keep going if it feels right, or stop. I never know how anything feels until it happens; there are too many variables involve. What if I think that I want happy, but the story's just cutting it for me? Then I read one that turns out the lights, and it's scary, but it's so fucking *good*, and that's really what I need because now I'm not outside but in the story.

I'm *not* saying that people can't write long disclaimers, only that they put me off as a reader for the signposting that Pumpkin mentioned. I just want to make my own choices based on how good a story is, not how appropriate. Make sense?

sidewinder: ...I just go back to re-read one of my old favorites that I know will fit the bill. Usually it's the easiest way to get the exact buzz I want. Or I just go to an author who I know tends to write in a particular style. It's a lot easier than trying to skim through headers/disclaimers/etc, and even genre indicators are only good to a certain extent (so someone called a story "humorous"--her sense of humor may do nothing for me!)

[azimuth]: I don't care for in-depth disclaimers, especially if they give away too much of the story -- I don't care if a character is killed off -- it's a fucking story!!! Just tell me the pairing and rating and that's all I need. I'll read pretty much anything except for certain pairings that I just won't read unless written by a fab writer. I'll read anything a fab writer writes, even mpreg. Even Joxer. But if I don't know the writer's ability, I'll go by pairing and rating. So really, what I'm saying I guess is that with writers who are great, I'll read whatever they write. With a so-so writer, I want to know content because their style and skill won't get me off the way a superb writer's will.

[Thamiris]: Hey, babe. I've been thinking about this, not least because of what MP said, and I think I care more about my own disclaimers or lack thereof than other people's. I just don't like the idea that a disclaimer's necessary, although when I posted my God/Lucifer story I was very careful to include a big-ass blasphemy warning, just in case. It seemed like the polite thing to do. But that's not about the story's content than about the type of story it was overall. I still feel that warning for some stuff will defuse my story's power, and will happily limit my disclaimer to a simple, "Kink," which covers a multitude of sins.

[azimuth]:Kink sounds like a good disclaimer. Bambi can then avoid it and search for stuff with less explicit material if she so desires. Hey -- I'm all for people reading what they want. A general rating and pairing and maybe a disclaimer like Kink is all that should be necessary. If a person comes upon a phrase or scene she or he doesn't like, they can always stop reading. They haven't purchased anything and have only spent time reading the story. Sheesh. This is free for the taking. Sometimes I think people forget.