About Content and Trigger Warnings

 

I've seen this conversation come up a few times and have been wondering about it myself. When is it necessary to include content or trigger warnings in books?

I'm currently querying my first novel (please cross your fingers for me that it gets picked up). It's the first in a young adult series that I've already mapped out 5 books for, and I'm thinking I will need to include content and or trigger warnings in most of the books.

Book 1 includes a physical attack on a young gay man. Does that need a trigger warning for gay bashing?

Books 2 on include underage drinking and mentions of sex (nothing explicit). Does that need a content warning, as my target audience is the teen and young adult crowd.

Book 2 also includes questionable consent and Book 4 includes an attempted rape. Those should probably have content/trigger warnings.

I don't know that I've ever actually seen a content or trigger warning in a book. But I also can't remember the last time I read a book that might have needed one or the other. Do publishers have rules about these things? Until I get picked up by a literary agent, I'm not sure who to actually ask.

Switching works mid-project

 

So, I am currently querying a YA novel that I intend to be the first in a series of at least 5 books. I'm nearly done writing the 2nd book, have started the 3rd, and have the main plot points down for books 4 and 5. I have plenty to work on with this project and a very good reason to continue to move forward with it, as I imagine literary agents will be more interested in picking up a series if they know the 2nd book will be ready within a year of the 1st being published.

So, what do I do? I set aside my series and begin writing a romance novel, something I've never done before. I hardly even read romance - only if I want a quick, silly, pick-me-up. Sure, I have romantic elements in the stories I write, but I've never made it the focus of the piece. Somehow, someway, working on my YA series and dealing with teen romance inspired me to come up with an adult romance storyline that is quickly turning into a full novel. In 2 1/2 days, I've already written over 20,000 words! If this was NaNoWriMo, I'd be kicking everyone's butts.

I want to finish my YA series, of course. I want to get the 2nd book done soon enough to entice literary agents to pick up the project. But I have to follow inspiration when it strikes. Maybe this romance novel will continue to fly out of me, as it has over the last couple of days, and I'll be done with it soon enough that it will be like I hardly stepped away from my YA series at all. I have to let this play out and see.

Changing POVs

 

For the first time, I am working on a story with multiple main characters and switching between their points of view. It's easy enough when they are doing their own things, but they interact a lot throughout the story, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to lead those scenes when either of them could be the focus.

I'm writing the story in 3rd person, as I'm not fond of books that change perspectives but maintain the 1st person narrative. That seemed to be a popular thing with middle grade books when I was young, and I don't want to repeat their mistakes. But that doesn't really solve the conundrum of how to maintain a consistent perspective when both main characters are in the same scene.

I'm thinking it makes sense to introduce one character at the start of the scene and try to keep them the narrator of the scene that follows, even when the other character has a strong role in the action. It's a difficult balance, and I'm not even halfway through my first draft, so I've got time to work it out.

Mixing genres

 

I'm having something of a dilemma. I'm currently querying a queer YA novel and writing 2 sequels for it. But I'm also planning out an urban fantasy series for a general audience. I have an outline for a high fantasy series that could go either YA or general audience, haven't decided yet. And, just for fun, I sometimes write "spicy" romance.

The problem I'm having is that I can crank out romance stories a lot faster than the other books I write, because they're very trope heavy and predictable. I don't spend weeks and months doing complicated character building. I don't do series arcs. I just write fun little stories about people meeting and falling in love. I'm beginning to wonder if I should be querying my romance stories in addition to my YA novel, and, if so, how would that go over with readers and literary agents?

I'm worried that literary agents and publishers won't want someone to put their name on both bon-bon romance paperbacks and more serious novels. If my spicy romance novels get published, will people take my other novels seriously? Ideally, I would love it if I could get every manuscript I actually finish to be published, regardless of the genre or the audience. I just want people to read my stories and enjoy them. But I don't know of many authors who cross the line between straight up romance and serious fiction. I would consider using a pseudonym for the romance novels, to keep them separate from my other works, but I don't want to be disingenuous. I write what I write, and I write all over the map. Do I present myself to literary agents as an all-around author and hope they're willing to work with me in each genre? Do I focus my time and energy on only one genre at a time and try to build up a readership there before branching out? It's a conundrum.

Procrastination Nation!

Ah, the joys of waiting for the last minute to start a project you've been intentionally avoiding for as long as humanly possible. Isn't it fun to work under the stress of a looming deadline?

Studies have actually shown that people work better under pressure than when given free rein to set their own schedules, so procrastinating is fairly common. The anxiety produced by waiting until the last minute actually heightens senses and makes the brain work faster. Which is good news for those of us who are perpetual procrastinators.

But there's some good that comes from procrastinating when it comes to creative writing.

When I'm intentionally not working on my writing by distracting myself with other activities or doom scrolling the internet, my brain is constantly reminding me that I should be writing. It comes up with short snippets of the scene I'm supposed to be working on. It shows me emotions that my character might be feeling while under pressure. It reminds me of plot holes that need to be filled in. My fingers may not be actively writing, but my brain is still working on the project. Then, when I finally sit down to write, I usually have the first few sentences ready to go. Once I get started, the words tend to flow.

Procrastinating can just be a passive way of actually getting things done. So don't sweat it too much if your hands aren't on your computer or you haven't picked up a pen all day. Your brain might be working for you.

Overcoming Writer's Block

There is nothing that gives me anxiety like hitting a bought of writer's block. It consumes my thoughts and makes me doubt myself like nothing else. After all, if I'm really meant to be a writer, shouldn't I be able to keep writing, inspired/motivated or not?

But we all experience writer's block at some point in time. Lots of things can cause it: being tired from day to day life, characters aren't talking to you, inspiration fatigue, just finished a work and don't know what to do next, etc. Plenty of reasons exist for why the creative juices might dry up.

In my case, one of the leading causes of writer's block is depression. I happen to have bipolar disorder. My mood is fairly well controlled by medication and therapy, but there are times when I still fall into a depressive episode and can't just will myself out of it. It's incredibly difficult for me to write when I'm depressed. I lack motivation to do much of anything and my mind is too numb for inspiration to strike. But not writing causes me to feel more depressed, because writing is the greatest joy in my life. It's a terrible spiral that makes me feel worse and worse until the depressive episode ends and I can write again.

In August of 2023, I completed a "final" draft of a manuscript for a novel and sent it to a beta-reader. I spent time editing it and writing a few scenes for its sequel. Then depression hit and I stopped writing. At first, I thought I wasn't writing because I'd just completed a work and wasn't ready to move on. Maybe my brain was stuck in editing mode. But time went on and I still wasn't writing. I came up with ideas for the next book, but I just couldn't get myself to write them down.

This depressive episode lasted until February 2024 - the longest major depressive episodes I've had since I started medication. I was miserable the entire time. And I didn't write a single word. I managed to journal a few times, as my therapist kept encouraging me to do, but I'd usually only get a page of "I don't know what to write" before I'd give up.

After a few medication changes that did nothing, my shrink came up with a cocktail that finally worked and I came out of the depression. It was like a weighted blanket was removed from my creativity and I was suddenly writing again. And I wrote a LOT. I've nearly finished the sequel to the novel I'm now querying with literary agents and written some key scenes for the 3rd book in the series.

It's easy to blame myself when I have writer's block. There must be something wrong with me. Unfortunately, with my troubles with my mental health, it's sometimes true that I'm the cause of my writer's block. But that doesn't make it my fault. And it doesn't mean that the writer's block won't lift if I just keep trying.

Yes, writer's block hits all of us. But I've realized something: I ALWAYS come back to writing. No matter how many times I've stepped away from my notebooks and laptop, I always come back. That's the part that matters to me. Pauses are temporary, and sometimes necessary to deal with other things going on in my life. But I know that I'll always return to writing. I just can't stay away. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Writing a voice that's not your own

 

As writers, we're told to "write what you know." Writers who choose to create main characters very different from themselves sometimes get chastised for giving false representation. But how can we only write characters that we directly relate to? There would be a lot of books about loners who spend all their time locked up in their rooms with their cats and a cup of coffee or tea. That would be rather boring.

So, we have to write characters that greatly differ from our own experiences. We use our imagination and research to fill in the gaps between what we "know" and what we want on the page. It's what makes us creative types.

But what if you want to create a voice that's traditionally underrepresented and greatly differs from your own?

The main character in the book I'm querying is a young, gay boy who is both an artist and a basketball player and I'm ... none of those things. Seriously, not a single one. But I feel I do a good job at writing his story from his point of view (it's in 1st person). How can I write something that is largely underrepresented in literature and something I have no personal experience with?

Empathy.

Probably a writer's greatest tool is the ability to empathize with people who greatly differ from us. Frankly, the more underrepresented, the easier it is to empathize, because I know what it feels like to be seen as the "weirdo" in a group, to hide a part of yourself from friends and family so you aren't ostracized any more than you already are. I don't let anyone I know read my writing. I didn't even tell anyone I'd written a book until I started querying it. I understand what it's like to be a creative-minded person and feel disconnected from the world around me. In that regard, I feel greatly connected to my main character.

I've done a lot of research on art and basketball so I can write scenes with some sense of realism - enough that people who do know about such things won't immediately go "that's not how that works." I'm queer and I was once a teenager, so I can relate to the struggle of accepting one's sexuality and how to go about coming out to friends and family. But my ability to empathize is definitely what allows me to bring my character to life on the page. It's a tool that's greatly useful in the real world, too, but is downright necessary for writing realistic characters.