Much of the stridency, support for so-called 'offensive' writing comes across as adolescent, perhaps voice of bore-hound and self-centred? Those writers might consider audience a little more often. I mean, audience has to read the 'shit' [eventually/or possibly] Consider the schoolboy, twatters on about monsters fucking for 10 000 words, and his prose is rather offensive - or irritating, and after a polite 200 words we close the document/book - which I suppose is the maximum, the tolerance maximum for right-thinking folk, before we reach for Twitter, summon his assassins, or visitation of ghouls, at least, scratching at his window panes. That [the visitation] should get the chap out the house more often, and onwards with some decent non-mastubatory writing styles, ya.
Which is why there's a difference between being offensive for the shock value or for the sake of being offensive, and the "offense" being a consequence of saying something you believe to be the truth, or doing something that you think is right.
There's a subtle difference between "I don't worry if I am offensive" and "I am knowingly and deliberately offensive".
The way the question was worded I think implies "Do you worry something inoffensive in your work will offend people?" rather than "Do you worry if your work is offending enough people?"
Umm, really offensive stuff is hard to pin down. Offensive to me? - witchcraft-related tends to irk me somewhat, alarm bells re lads and mental health/Crowley crap/Magik... so, a wide-open question, intressing
Surely one could make the argument that an offense could be deliberate, and the author could possibly have a reason for it? You see this a lot I think with erotica. Marquis de Sade comes to mind. If you think he wrote 120 Days of Sodom because he was a 18th/19th century internet troll, you need to actually read it and his philosophy.
Those who are being deliberately offensive seldom worry if they are though. de Sade I doubt had cause to think "...Surely you don't think people might have a problem with that?"
I don't really worry about it a lot, but I think about keeping away from certain subjects when writing because I am deliberately aiming for my fiction to be a breather from all the everyday crap in the news. So avoiding stuff connected to hot topics reduces the offense-factor. But I think a writer's values often shine through the text anyway, so it's hard not to offend those with opposite views. If I offend by accident I hope it's because I punch up, and never down, to use comedy-lingo. I wouldn't shed a lot of tears over offending those who already have power and advantages in society.
De Sade was lucid, at least. These days we're all publishers. ... Sometimes I write [yeah] on the edge [yeah] and sometimes I fail to square the circle/tell the joke properly/walk the line...I know it can be done, in draft, but my weaker writes can be offensive, but when I've done a proper job, they have legs, I back myself. I suppose same rule goes for porno monster chaps, apols.
That's what I was trying to get at. If you've reason for writing something that will offend some people, I guess you're not going to be all that worried. On the other hand, if you're looking to write something but can't because you're worried about offending people, you probably don't believe in it enough to write it anyway.
I think that's true. I think if you believe passionately in a story then you won't be put off just at the possibility of offence.
Yeah that’s true. Like... sometimes my books involve sex or violence. If somebody told me that my books were “offensive” because sex and violence are wrong, I’d probably shrug and ignore them. If somebody told me my books were “offensive” (as in bigoted), I would care about that and consider it (even if I ultimately didn’t agree).
I'm absolutely offended. I'm glad my parents put me here on this planet to stop people like yourself. Hopefully my kids, and the future generations won't have to read about sex. Nobody likes an origin story. /joking You bring up a very good point. You should at least take their feedback into consideration and see if you've unintentionally said something that you didn't mean to. I think this is very good practice.
... Some writers are sensitive, some are very dogmatic & driven. I'm trying to think of 'offense' outside the realm/distraction of gore, or sex. As mentioned, we have faith, & faith-murders, 'offense' in the sense of blabbermouths and their in-exactitude, ummm thinking on
Oh, yeah - the concept of punching up was a really pivotal thing for me to learn about, I think, when it comes to 'offense'. It's good to keep in mind.
I just wanted to be noticed by you, and be silly with you. "Offense" in this context can mean a lot of different things, and that's because it's subjective. Magic and sorcery, sex and violence, gore and drugs, Elvis Presley's music and dancing, my writing, political opinions, the truth, reality, facts, science, and the Beach Boys, were/are all offensive to somebody, somewhere.
Lots of us write 'fact to fiction?' ... The 'ugly, fat guy, the station attendant passed me a chocolate bar.' 'Hey, you should read my stories, sometime...' I said 'I sure will,' he said, 'got plenty of time here at the gas station.' ... That worries me - occasionally, so I wouldn't write anything that breaks some rule of integrity, where I could weasel a 'based upon the attendant' excuse..casual cruelty...is not so good...
