How to Write a Good Fanfic

10.8 - Rape

Every NaNoWriMo I hit up the forums in an attempt at taking a break from the task of writing 50k for the month. I find myself discussing things with others in the fanfic section, but one of the comments which always strikes me are the ones posted in the pet peeve forum which pretty much can be summed up as, "how dare you tell me how I write is wrong; that's the same as saying what I write is wrong."

Let's make it clear here that telling someone they're writing something is wrong is not the same as telling someone what they write is wrong.

Last year I came across a comment where the writer of said comment openly stated those calling people out for romanticizing rape was wrong. Of course, this person felt they had a legit excuse in that the stories they were talking about were on a site where they were able to use a tag which indicated that the writer did just this, but the writer of the comment argued, "it's my kink, so let me be."

This stems from what's known as kink shaming where people are shamed for liking certain kink. More specifically, kink in these situations means "squick and not liked for you, not squicked and liked for me". I feel this is an important distinction to make – that "it's my kink, so let me be" refers to this and not the kink which means "I care more about how this kink personally stimulates me rather than the actual story and subject matter."

True, a person shouldn't feel bad about liking stories involving rape. I actually like the well written stories because I like rooting for the victims. Other reasons involve using the stories as a method of healing from the trauma of either being a victim of having someone you know victimized. Others still have a soft spot for victims. For simply writing about the subject people shouldn't feel ashamed.

However, they should feel ashamed for romanticizing rape.

Sorry, but there is no getting around the fact a person should feel guilty. It's not everyone else's fault they feel guilty for being called out for the way they handled the subject matter, but is a person's personal kink regarding rape actually more important than the feelings of rape victims? That's what a person is really arguing when they say they shouldn't be called out for how they portray the subject matter.

As A.M Leibowitz says in their article, "'But it's just fiction' isn't an excuse" it is important to remember, "rape myths are lies; we need to stop pretending they are anything else." There are people who believe these myths and as such it is the job of the writer not to add to the problem.

I also suggest reading

- Why "It's Just Fiction!" Isn't a Magic Defense – Springhole

- Fine-Tunning Your Character: Deciding What Matters – University of Richmand Writing Center

- It's Just Fiction – shadowmatt

- "It's just fiction." – Mirriam Neal

- "The Historical Writer's Oath" – charitysplace

- A List of Bad Writing Excuses You Need to Stop Using – fairytail-whatthesays