NSFW Do Not Read
I make it very clear that some of my writing is not for children. I have no qualms and no regrets. They have plenty of entertainment options. My primary portfolio is for readers sixteen and up. By that point, their parents should be aware of what their children are watching/viewing. Now, not all of my work is an exploitative gore-fest. Readers know that.
The Misfortunate Tomb of Fortunato, Nice Albert, Mickey, and the upcoming A Splash of Rum are not particularly bloody- and some of them have no violence at all. Cursing, swearing, call it what you want; a lot of people do it and that is reflected in my stories. In a particularly frightening situation, as in Red’s War, after encountering a wolf who turns its head completely upside down, the main hero Jackie Red screams out, “What the fuck? What the fuck?” As is natural. He would not say “What the funk? What the funk?” because he is not about to enter a dance
competition with the wolf.
In a post written on my original website, www.bluflamingos.com, entitled Creature Violence, I had a few paragraphs describing the following events: a mother and son witness a mutilated deer being finished off by a werewolf. It is extremely graphic, and for the purposes of this post, I am not going to reiterate what was said- instead, enjoy reading the post from its original source: http://www.bluflamingos.com/blog/creature-violence. However, I did nothing to truly warn my readers of the graphic content on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. The two bloody YouTube videos and the two excerpts on violent scenes can be quite a shock- though I do warn people ahead of time in the blog post. That is fine and dandy, but a warning before hand would have been appropriate. NSFW does not just mean sex and nudity.
Luckily, nothing about my post falls under Facebook’s community standards (specifically under Violence and Criminal Behavior, and Questionable Content- Graphic Violence). Videos and imagery are the best ways to attract viewers. I am now glad I did not post the video of the zebra getting mutilated by the crocodile because it would be flagged down almost immediately- had I not warned the viewers. Going back, here is what the post would have looked like.
Blu Flamingos
Creature Violence in my stories is used in a natural manner, even when it is a paranormal event, to further place my readers in the scene. Animals do not care for the squeamish nature of humans. Warning: Graphic Videos and Some Language
(Link here)
Video?
If my readers do not want to see anything of that manner, now they are free to look away before even viewing my post. It is all about respecting the rules of Facebook. The post with video in bold is in reference to how I would place the video, if I were to actually include it. I would take the same discretionary measures when using Twitter, and especially on LinkedIn, just by the very nature of that site. If I really wanted to, of course, I can hawk it off as opening a discussion on how humans are simply viewers to animal violence and can ultimately do nothing to stop it- they can only delay the inevitable bloodshed of another by saving one.
Warning, creature violence below.