I just wanted to say a couple of things about a recent post I made, the Top 10 Tips for Spanking Fiction Writers. I've received a couple of negative comments about #6, which condones the writing of stories involving the spanking of minors.
I totally understand the viewpoint of a few readers that found this appalling or upsetting, and I respect their right to have those views and apologize for offending any of you. I probably should have thought over the comment a little more before posting it.
However, to play devil's advocate, I personally don't think there's anything wrong with writing spanking fiction that involves minors, nor do I think it causes anyone to be motivated to hurt children anymore than watching a violent movie encourages you to go shoot someone. Perhaps part of the reason I can sympathize with this point of view is that I am still fairly young and can remember writing stories as a teen where teenagers were spanked by their parents for perceived wrong doing. And I think the vast majority of these stories are written more from the standpoint of someone who wishes they had been spanked as a teen rather than someone who wants to spank teens.
My purpose of the post was to give some insight and advice on what the boundaries of this should be. Because I have read stories involving minors that offend me, and I am a fairly laid back person on the matter. My intent with the rule was to discourage the written abuse of children, as opposed to encouraging it. I realize standards for what is and is not abuse of children are hardly universal.
So basically, my intentions were good, but perhaps I was speaking to the wrong audience and/or was not very effective in communicating my meaning.
To reiterate something I said in my original post, Christian Spanking Fellowship is not a blog about the spanking of children and I did not wish to discuss the subject in the slightest. Because I wasn't as strict with this rule as I probably should have been, I left the door open for this subject.
At any rate, rest assured that this will be the last time the subject is discussed on this blog, whether the children are real or fictional.
God bless, and KCATOS!
Hi Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI wasn't offended. I simply have a different perspective that probably stems from my role as a mother and grandmother. Protecting those little people is an instinct for me.
This topic has served as a kind of "third rail" in spanking forums over the years. Many a senseless flame war has been fought over the acceptability of various depictions of children.
But there will be no flaming from me. This is your blog and you should write stories you like and that you believe your readers will enjoy as well.
There is a line and we each draw it in a slightly different place. What's most important, I think, is to be true to ourselves and the values we hold. Everything beyond that is a simple difference of opinion.
With warm regards,
Bonnie
Thanks for the clarification- this is a very complex issue. I remember when I first discovered spanking literature, I was drawn to stories with younger characters. They seemed more relatable when first encountering this concept. However, over the years my tastes have completely reversed.
ReplyDeleteOlder characters can be more difficult to work into a believable scenario but allow for a wider emotional range. The elements of submission and consent or semi-consent are the most enjoyable parts for me, and require characters of a certain age.
While I'm sure many of the stories involving younger characters are written with benign intentions, it's still a dangerous area and open to misinterpretation. Rather than launch into lengthy and unproductive debates on the subject, I simply choose to find other reading material.