Trigger/content warnings have been the subject of discourse in the publishing world for years. Some people think they're crucial, some think they're pointless, and some even think they're harmful.
After seeing some conversation about them on Threads, I wanted to write my own take and a guide for writers on how to use warnings effectively.
In this blog post I will be discussing one of my reactions to being triggered in the section labeled "my story." Feel free to skip that section if it would be difficult for you.
I also occasionally list topics that should have trigger warnings, very generally and without detail.
Please take care of yourself!
Since this post got a bit long, here are easy links to the specific topics I'm covering:
Trigger Warnings vs. Content Warnings
In basic terms, content warnings are general warnings for subjects considered "standard" to be upsetting, while trigger warnings are more specific.
Language, Please, in their "content, advisory, and trigger warnings" listing in their style guide states, "While content warnings and trigger warnings often cover the same subject matter, a trigger warning may address specific items that aren’t considered sensitive enough for a content warning."
Language, Please gave an example of a trigger warning in this listing: "If you are making a podcast episode directed at people with a phobia of dogs (cynophobia), it would be wise to include a trigger warning before playing sounds of barking."
Another example would be including a trigger warning if, in a podcast discussing gun violence, there are sounds of gunshots played.
A content warning would be "this episode includes discussion of gun violence."
For the purposes of this article, I'm going to be using the phrase "trigger warning."
Why trigger warnings are important
Trigger warnings save lives. Period.
They don't exist because some people need to be protected from being sad. People know that they will feel emotions when consuming media. Trigger warnings are for people who could experience what some would view as "extreme" reactions to triggering content. These reactions include flashbacks, passing out, nightmares, self harm, and many more.
Oftentimes, a blurb or summary isn't enough to truly know what kind of content might be in a piece of media. Some marketing tactics only add to blindsiding viewers, favoring possible shock value over keeping consumers safe.
One example of this type of harm has been widespread in the media lately: Colleen Hoover's new movie, It Ends With Us. There are no trigger warnings in the book, and none of the marketing material suggests that it deals with domestic violence.
I've seen many people on Threads report that there were moviegoers in their theater gasping with shock, sobbing, and leaving early due to the shock of the triggering content. I've seen people post saying "I didn't know it would be so triggering" or "I thought it would be a RomCom."
Even worse, young teenagers are seeing the marketing material, especially Tiktoks, for this movie and unsuspecting parents are taking them to see it.
Movies are rated for a reason, though not everyone sees the rating before the movie. Books should be treated in a similar way; someone buying the book off the shelf should be warned the same way moviegoers are with the rating on the screen.
Hoover has said herself that she doesn't want to use trigger warnings.
“I’ve received quite a number of negative reviews in relation to the lack of a trigger warning for the subject matter…and for writing about such unhappy things,” she wrote in a now-deleted blog post in 2016. “As a fellow reader with my fair share of past experiences, I understand that there are issues some people do not want to read about. But as a writer, there are many things I don’t want revealed in the blurbs of my books.”
She knows that people are requesting trigger warnings and is disregarding that request, knowingly harming readers.
I have many issues with Colleen Hoover's content, but that is best saved for another blog post.
“I strongly recommend content warnings, because why would an author choose to harm some of their readers?” -Alicia Z. Ramos
One analogy I’ve seen time and time again is that trigger warnings are like ingredient labels; not everyone will read them, but they’re there to protect the people who need them.
I'm one of those people.
In college, I asked professors as one of my disability accommodations to give me a warning when the material had graphic injuries or scenes regarding assault in any way. This was especially important in my literature classes and writing workshops
One time, in a poetry workshop class, there was an elderly woman taking the class that refused to use trigger warnings as requested by the professor. She posted an extremely graphic poem, and my professor didn't have a chance to warn me before I read it (all poems were posted on a discussion board for required reading before the next class).
Frankly, it sucked. I could feel the poem's words in my body, and I was remembering things that happened to me. I was living on my own at the time, with no one nearby to ask to come over. All I could do was attempt to use the coping skills I had been taught and wait for my nervous system to calm down. I had nightmares following this incident, and I was depressed that the incident even happened because I felt weak and alone.
As I work through my trauma, I can "handle" more content. A few years ago I would get woozy when people even mentioned being injured. Now, I simply can't handle sensory details or watching scenes.
Because of my experiences and many experiences I've heard from others, I get angry when people suggest that trigger warnings are harmful because they supposedly do things like "make trauma central to identity."
I want to be able to watch movies or TV shows without checking dozens of websites online to see if there's material that could trigger me. I don't WANT to be traumatized. I can't help having PTSD, it wasn't my fault, and I shouldn't be shamed for wanting to protect myself.
Part of my healing means gaining agency, and I deserve to be able ask for information that can help me choose how I engage with material in my recovery.
Brittany Yost, like me, had to engage with intense material while studying English in college.
She said, "I told an editor I was working with that while we were put through it content wise, we also were in classrooms with instructors and a built in space where we could discuss and work through the content analytically. Content warnings are important because the average reader is not engaging with content in the same way. It allows the reader to decide if they are comfortable engaging with that particular content in a space where they will be likely on their own and self directed.”
Implementing Trigger Warnings in Books:
When it comes to implementing trigger warnings in a book, there are many options:
Print them directly in the front matter
Direct readers from a page in the front saying that they can go to the back matter where you have a comprehensive list
Create a page on your author website with your list and put a link and/or a QR code in your front matter
Having trigger warnings on your website is a great idea, according to Wendee Mullikin, "This avoids putting them in the books directly, and allows her to constantly adjust them to feedback she might receive. And it puts the onus directly on the readers as to whether they look."
In my opinion, it is important to have something in the front to indicate that there are trigger warnings.
One of my favorite content warnings is T.J. Klune's from Under the Whispering Door:
This story explores life and love as well as loss and grief. There are discussions of death in different forms-quiet, unexpected, and death by suicide. Please read with care.
It is important to be careful, however, when using trigger warnings in your promotional material. Mullikin, discussing using trigger warnings in your book blurbs, said, "There's so much, marketing wise, that could go wrong with that strategy--especially at retailers. You never know what will put you in the "dungeon" over at the 'Zon (erotica and sometimes erotic romance is hard to find if a book somehow gets tagged/flagged and it becomes a marketing and promotional nightmare)."
I also request, as an editor, that you send your list of trigger warnings to your editor. Many editors ask for them before work begins. I am upfront about not being able to work with horror or graphic scenes.
Editors can be triggered too, so please treat us with care!
"Other editors may have hard limits about what they will and won't edit: Everyone is on their own journey and it's 100% fine for a topic to be a 'no' for an editor." -Wendee Mullikin
Social Media:
Trigger warnings are also important when posting on social media.
On text-based sites, it is as simple as putting the warning at the top of the post. Oftentimes, it looks something like "TW// XXXXX" followed by a few spaces.
For image-based posts, many people will post a trigger warning image as the first image on their post. This works best on platforms that use carousels. For other platforms, such as Facebook, people will put a series of non-triggering images in front of the triggering image so that no one will just see the image while casually scrolling without getting a chance to read the warning.
Trigger warnings on social media have helped me keep myself safe countless times, so thank you to everyone that uses them!
General Etiquette:
Being specific is so important when writing trigger warnings. Some examples of this include specifying how you're covering the topic, such as "mentions of assault" vs. "graphic scene of assault." Some people can handle different levels of exposure to triggers, so the mention of something wouldn't be triggering but detailed mentions or a scene would be.
I also think it’s important for me to say that identities do not need warnings. You don’t need a trigger warning for things like a gay relationship or a disabled person. Trigger warnings would, however, be necessary if said elements include triggering material regarding them, such as internalized homophobia or extreme injury.
Not sure which topics need trigger warnings? Here is a list of warnings used for the database site Book Trigger Warnings that also has many trigger warnings for popular books. Go check it out!
Editor friends in this article:
Thank you so much for reading, everyone! I worked incredibly hard on this post, so it would mean the world to me if you would share it on social media or with people you think could benefit from it.
I welcome discussion!
My social media can be found on my LinkTree.
Please fill out my inquiry form if you are interested in editing or sensitivity reading!
And since this was quite a heavy post, here's a picture of my lovely assistant, Portia:
