What Won't You Write?

[Luxuria]

It has always interested me how different writers have different things they won't write or draw the line, so to speak. I have a few myself, but I am wondering what you won't write in your stories. Because as we grow as writers, we try to write new things or things we were hesitant to write before. But where is that line for you? What won't you write?

For me, I can't write animals getting hurt- so almost none of my characters have any pets. Which is a shame, because I love writing cats, but I Deus Ex Machina the cats so they never get hurt. Ever.
Also, on-screen sex scenes. I just don't find them interesting to write. Gay or Straight. So, everything spicy happens off-screen.
Hitler. He's the one historical character I will not write. Because I am superstitious and don't want to call in any bad spirits.

What about you?

 

[Madman Starryteller]

I won't write sex scenes, mostly because I don't think I could pull them off in the way I would like to in my stories, yet.

 

[Naomasa298]

Present tense, except for effect in a short section of a story.

And I might offend some people when I say that I don't write queer/LGBTQ+ characters. Not that I *won't* write them, but I don't write them, because I'm not interested in including them as either diversity characters or as a central theme of my stories. It doesn't mean I wouldn't write one if I had an interesting enough story around one (I have a series where a recent news story regarding a transgender person might make a suitable storyline), but otherwise, it's not my area of interest. Sorry if some folks find that unpalatable, it's just reflective of my areas of interest.

Genre wise, I don't write cosmic horror, weird west, any kind of punk, or fanfiction.

 

[Luxuria]

Present tense, except for effect in a short section of a story.

And I might offend some people when I say that I don't write queer/LGBTQ+ characters. Not that I *won't* write them, but I don't write them, because I'm not interested in including them as either diversity characters or as a central theme of my stories. It doesn't mean I wouldn't write one if I had an interesting enough story around one (I have a series where a recent news story regarding a transgender person might make a suitable storyline), but otherwise, it's not my area of interest. Sorry if some folks find that unpalatable, it's just reflective of my areas of interest.

Present tense, too.

But don't worry about not writing LGBT characters. We need a variety of people writing different things. If we all wrote books with a diversity checklist, stories would become stale. So, don't stress about it. I understand why you are, but being true to yourself is more important than pleasing other people.

 

[Daisy Lee]

I won't write sex scenes, mostly because I don't think I could pull them off in the way I would like to in my stories, yet.

Me too. I also don't use a ton of profanity unless it really fits the character and the story. It becomes sort of meaningless.
Sort of like how so many people these days will say "love you" to another person they literally just met a few days or weeks before. Example: Survivor episode: The tribe has spoken and your torch is snuffed. And the whole tribe is chiming in as you walk out: Love you Tracy. Love you. We love you. Blah blah blah. C'mon.

 

[Luxuria]

I won't write sex scenes, mostly because I don't think I could pull them off in the way I would like to in my stories, yet.

I understand. Sex scenes are difficult for me to write, because I just... find them boring? And maybe writing some on the side would help you figure out how you want to write them. Because it sounds as if you merely don't know how to approach the scene. Am I correct? If not, sorry.

 

[Naomasa298]

But don't worry about not writing LGBT characters. We need a variety of people writing different things. If we all wrote books with a diversity checklist, stories would become stale. So, don't stress about it. I understand why you are, but being true to yourself is more important than pleasing other people.

Honestly, I don't worry about not writing them. My concern is really more about how people might interpret the above post, rather than the writing itself.

 

[Luxuria]

Honestly, I don't worry about not writing them. My concern is really more about how people might interpret the above post, rather than the writing itself.

I understand that. But don't feel bad. It's just a topic you're not interested in writing. Just like I am not interested in writing about birds and sea life. Do I hate birds and sea life IRL? No. I just don't wanna write about those things.

 

[Homer Potvin]

Interesting question. There's isn't much I won't write, I don't think. I'm not a fan of first person or present tense but have used them before. The present tense bits I've done have been more about poking fun at present tense by making them as affected as possible. Sex scenes aren't a problem for me, but only when necessary or humorous, and with quite a sliding scale of gratuitousness. I'll do masturbation scenes rather frequently because they're funny. Or creepy, depending on the mood. No problems with LGBTQ+ characters either, though it doesn't come up too often. I don't take any of my characters too seriously and don't really care how they're perceived. My motto has always been, if you're not offending somebody, you're doing something wrong. What is acceptable to all will be adored by none, as the saying goes. Like Ron Howard movies!

 

[Luxuria]

My motto has always been, if you're not offending somebody, you're doing something wrong. What is acceptable to all will be adored by none, as the saying goes. Like Ron Howard movies!

I love this. I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[Stuart Dren]

Love triangle. Envy is fine, or a few passing thoughts, but I find it impossible to relate to as an enduring preoccupation.

 

[Naomasa298]

Oh, I also don't write about real-world politics, especially identity politics and historical revisionism, or anything that is a veiled substitute for these things.

 

[Mr Mononoke]

I have never tried this but read a story that bordered this but pedophilia or even suggestive under aged romances/sex.

This maybe because I have kids and the thought of either disturbs me (the former rather than the latter) but when I write I really like to get into the heads of the characters and it would be impossible for me to talk about intimacy in those ages.

I don't like to, but probably have to if my stories move that way, write about being a murderer or killer. Again, it is because I feel you need to be the character to gauge their motivations and reasons to kill and to be inside someone's head (even the thoughts of possibly having to create a story with this character) is disturbing and I can get far too deep into a character for it to be healthy.

I always feel that, as a writer you are not just the story teller, but the director, the cameraman, the set design, the make-up artist and costume designer, nevermind the editor etc... but you also the actor. That for me makes difficult topics tough to explore.

 

[Naja Noir]

Good thread!

There's a lot of things I won't write about, either because I couldn't pull them off, or because I don't tolerate them in reading and wouldn't write them. The latter is the stuff that is deemed rated R or worse. My writing is at worst PG13, but I think its mostly PG. I rarely cuss and there's never been a need or want to allude to sexual escapades.

I've written two lgbtq characters, but they came that way naturally to my mind first. I won't write them just to diversify my stories. Sexual wants and needs aren't heavily featured in the majority of my writing though.

I will write first person, but it's not my go-to. I typically don't do accents, at least regularly, as I find them annoying (usually) to read and tedious to write. Historical stories, I guess they just don't entice me enough.

I don't write comedy, though I'd like to, I'm just terrible at it. No twilighty type stuff but I'll have brief moments of love/affection. No crime and no drama. No suspense or mystery because I couldn't pull them off. No politics except what comes naturally to a dystopian society.


Reading what I wrote makes me think I should really step out of my comfort zone. But I write what I see and until I see otherwise, it'll stay that way.

 

[Luxuria]

Reading what I wrote makes me think I should really step out of my comfort zone. But I write what I see and until I see otherwise, it'll stay that way.

I get it. But also, don’t you force yourself to write things that make you uncomfortable. There is a vast difference between writing things that you don’t usually write and things that are straight up uncomfortable.

I am not interested in writing Rainbows and Unicorns. I would feel uncomfortable writing onscreen sex in a book. That’s the difference and it is okay to have things you won’t write. Because you need to stay true to yourself.

 

[Naja Noir]

I get it. But also, don’t you force yourself to write things that make you uncomfortable. There is a vast difference between writing things that you don’t usually write and things that are straight up uncomfortable.

I am not interested in writing Rainbows and Unicorns. I would feel uncomfortable writing onscreen sex in a book. That’s the difference and it is okay to have things you won’t write. Because you need to stay true to yourself.

Perhaps I misunderstood. I have a very short supply of written work and it has stalled as of late. But, I have, and would still force myself to write uncomfortable things. My dystopian stories gave me agita and I wasn't overly fond of writing about alien worms in the ceiling either, (I detest worms, ugh). I think comfort zone was the wrong word phrase to use. Mostly what I meant is that, I can't sit and force myself to write about a boy who flies just cause I "feel" like writing that scene. When I see a prompt, or an idea goes to paper, it's because I caught of glimpse of it, or felt it.

Some genres bore me, but if i was moved enough by the story/character to write them, I would. There are things that I would never, ever, write about, even were I to believe they happened to my characters. I might allude to something. Two of my readers are my kids, I want what little I do write, to be something that they, that everyone could stomach. Not everyone is going to like the stories/style, etc...but that's different.

 

[Set2Stun]

I'll never write "literary fiction," contemporary or otherwise. I hate purple prose and I don't enjoy elaborate subtext and trying to figure out what the author meant by this or that, like studying literature back in high school. I pretty much just write stuff that people like me would enjoy reading.

I also never include children in my stories, unless they're being eaten by a monster or abducted by a witch or something
Never understood children, don't like them, find them loud and annoying, unsanitary, and they always have dirty, sticky candy hands. I say, children can take a hike !

Romance is fine, but it's never going to be the primary driver in any of my stories. I typically avoid explicit sexual content and prefer to imply it, though in my latest novel it's been horny enough that I haven't shared it with my mom. Too much whackin' off and boobies and stuff, but that's kind of unavoidable when the FMC is a sex robot.

 

[Naomasa298]

I'll never write "literary fiction," contemporary or otherwise. I hate purple prose and I don't enjoy elaborate subtext and trying to figure out what the author meant by this or that, like studying literature back in high school. I pretty much just write stuff that people like me would enjoy reading.

Funnily enough, I was the same. I don't read literary fiction and have very little interest in it. Then the ideas for Showa Story and Ghosts came to me and I wanted to write them. I actually quite enjoyed doing it as well.

It's not something I intend to move into though. If the right idea occurs to me and litfic would fit, I'll write it. I'm not actively going out and looking for ideas for it.

 

[Madman Starryteller]

I understand. Sex scenes are difficult for me to write, because I just... find them boring? And maybe writing some on the side would help you figure out how you want to write them. Because it sounds as if you merely don't know how to approach the scene. Am I correct? If not, sorry.

Yeah, that is correct. If I ever do write them I want the focus to be on the characters, not the act.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

It's an interesting question. My primary answer is that I try not to write something I'd have little interest in reading. There's a broad swathe of subject matter that can be included in a story, it all depends on the execution. I want to read something that's writerly, that uses language and concepts in creative ways, that points at different or striking ways of looking at the world, whether extraordinary or entirely mundane. I don't want to read something that executes a plot with all (or most) the ancillary stripped away. I don't want to start something and think "here we go again." If I've already read it, I'm not sure I want to read it again by a different author.