seven golden rules in one's right to write

[tielan]

"Some concerns" ≠ "never ever write this"

Being asked to be thoughtful is not censoring free speech, harshing squee, or pissing in the sandbox.

It is not more oppressive to be asked to be considerate of others than it is to be the subject of systemic oppression.

Write whatever the fuck you like. But write it with thoughtfulness and respect for those for whom your "fictional situation" is a fact of daily life.

If you don't write it with thoughtfulness and respect, expect to get called on it.

Getting called on your lack of respect is far from the worst thing in the world that will ever happen to you.

Embarrassment and regret are not terminal. Nor is apologising.

Comments

[zillah975]

And I'm not disagreeing with you.

What I am saying is that I understand why that's too much for some people to contemplate, and that I'm getting sensitive to the implication that if you're one of those people, you're A) not trying, B) a coward, C) lying, or D) all of the above.

To say that because I can get past my fears, everyone should be able to, would be at the very least an incorrect statement.

[tielan]

Ah, I think I see what you're getting at.

I suspect the the people implying that it's problematic to retreat in the face of fear are feeling that many of the people saying they're afraid seem less concerned about getting it wrong than they are concerned of being called out for getting it wrong.

[zillah975]

*nodsnods* I agree, a lot of them probably are, and that's a huge problem. It's just, not all of them are. Some people are more afraid of hurting someone accidentally, and some are afraid of hurting someone and afraid of being excoriated, but there's a lot of lumping people together and assuming the worst going on, on pretty much every side of, well, pretty much everything in the world right now, not just the internets, and it's all very human and understandable, and I don't know how we can really be expected to do otherwise under some circumstances, but...I can't always deal with it.