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How To Write a Book: Triggering Readers and Your Work

Let's talk very briefly about political correctness which apparently is in itself a term that a section of the population finds objectionable. I, personally don't seek out graphically violent content but I have one hard trigger; animal cruelty*.

These days I find myself cringing when I read books written BPC (before PC). I read for enjoyment so this can cause me to abandon a story. So I ask you, what is one to do when immersed in a mission alongside James Bond and Ian Flemming has the nerve to horrify you with the "N-word" or slap you out of a sensual mood with a quick date-rape punch to your gut or cause you to have to re-read a sentence to make sure you read the words that paint an entire population with the broad brush of imperialist exploitation and racism. Do you put the book down?

Nowadays the above references can result in anger that I'm pretty sure ol' Ian hadn't meant to deliver along with his adventures. What writer wants to outrage their readers? Well, some do when delivering subject matter meant to provoke strong feelings about injustices or crimes, but I'm not talking about that here.

With body positivity finally coming into the light I find myself sniffing out the faintest whiff of fat-shaming and am sad to realize that Agatha Christy was one of the worst culprits of using a person's weight as a derogatory label. The people who have felt pained by her casual use of hurtful words must be in the millions.

These days we have little fear of our books being burned or banned, but why not take it upon ourselves to find new ways to address the same old interactions and physicalities without stooping to racist, classist, misogynistic, or rape-y tropes? You can write taboo, violent, or horror subjects without stooping to the depths of targeting a population. You can do it all in a smart and evolved fashion.

Now, that being said, you can't please everyone and as a writer, you shouldn't try. But reconsidering needlessly hateful or hurtful words doesn't mean you have to water down your work or take the teeth out of your story. I challenge you to find a way to write whatever you want without crossing lines you don't have to.



-- Anna Erikssön Bendewald 

*Animal cruelty. Can't read it. I had to tap out of Isabel Allende's House of the Spirits specifically because of that.

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