Hello, fellow lovers of words♡
As I've mentioned on numerous occasions (sorry... not sorry; I'm proud :blush: ), I'm currently in the process of editing my manuscript to publish my very first poetry book.
I am doing this through a poetry publishing program I got accepted into last autumn.
I write about many topics/events/experiences, but a big theme for my first book is my traumas, healing, and growth. Life as not only a survivor, but someone who is on the journey to thriving!
In last weeks class, I workshopped a poem that I included a trigger/content warning regarding childhood a. This sparked a huge debate: to include that warning in my book or not.
:exclamation: The two sides of the argument: :exclamation:
1) giving the warning allows the reader to choose whether they have the emotional space and energy to take on said poem, or if they need to come back to it when in a better mindest. (My pov)
2) the warning acts as a deterrent, practically begging not to be read. If that's the case, why include it in the book? (My professor's pov)
:warning: what are your thoughts? Please feel free to vote and comment your insights! Thanks in advance! :warning:
Comments (4)
I'd say trigger warnings are very useful and helpful for some individuals, but it can often pull people away from the piece without giving a chance to explore it. If there are obvious mentions or major mentions on a topic that can be sensitive, i say go ahead. But if there are just slight mentions (like explicit language that isn't used very often) i don't see the need for a warning. However, i understand that the presence of a warning will be appropriate regardless.
Yes! Trigger warnings are great ^^ but the need to be specific isn't always there if you don't wanna spoil it. Just say "Major" or "Minor" Trigger Warning and I think that would work sometimes
If they're all collected in one book, i think it's good enough to include any warnings on like, the first page. You could also include them in the table of contents if you really felt it was necessary, but I think putting a trigger on each individual poem throughout the book might be a bit excessive.
I would say it's good to have warnings because you don't want to upset someone who is sensitive to the content. However while your professor might think its a deterrent, books in real life have a similar catag system. Aside from genre, sometimes they're divided by topics such as crime or drama and stuff like that. Those who aren't interested won't read, and those who are will.
I think trigger warnings are definitely important, especially in online media and such, but despite your professor's concerns, there are ways to include specific warnings while also not spoiling the story.