So I’ve been reading a lot of episode stories recently where a triggering topic is involved. Most of the time it’s the topic involving “su*cide.” Or rxpe. I’m curious how do writers write these scenes? Is it hard? What specific details do you need to include for it give a meaningful message to readers? Should there be more context or less context? And most importantly does it impact your story in any way? I’m asking all these questions because of an upcoming story that evolves somewhat around mental health awareness and I know some knowledge but I’m hoping to gain more from anyone who knows more about these topics. Thank you for your time to whoever reads this.
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Writers may write these scenes of what they perceive them to be or maybe they have experienced this. It is a very sensitive subject so I think any rational being would feel as though it is hard to write such moments. I don’t think it needs alot of detail but more just the outside context because like I said it is a sensitive subject AND some things can be against the guidelines. It may impact your story depending on the audience however if you put a warning they are prepared and can choose whether or not to stay. I hope this helped 
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Thank you so much for your insight! I’ll make sure to keep this in mind. 
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It;s okay, I am going to do a story in the future about this so if you need anything just PM me or message me on instagram
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Will do x
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I wrote a scene in one of my stories that might be triggering to some readers - not about either of those topics but about the after-effects of trauma. its not graphic, but more of a character questioning their perception on prior events. its emotionally pretty mature so I included a read/skip version so they can participate from a distance. it definitely was important to my plot because that scene has a choice that branches out based on the character’s perception of events - the read / skip versions have the choice too just through written descriptions. it was really hard to write, but I think the most difficult part was maintaining a neutral stance and not encouraging the reader to choose one way or another.
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I wrote a story that dealt with the trauma of what happens if the person has enough. I unfortunately experince that first hand so I was able to convey that into the story. I was not as graphic in the detail but the details where describe in a summary where the reader could see what was going on without it being to triggering. If that make sense.
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Moved to Episode Fan Community since this is about Episode stories. Make sure to check out our Forum Tutorial for more info about creating topics, and feel free to PM me if you’ve got questions. 
My entire story centers around r*pe. I looked over what not to have in story and it said: “promotes or depicts excessive violent or assault, including but not limited sexual assault, murder, and torture against humans or animals”, “promotes suicide, self-harm, abuse, or bullying; promotes excessive alcohol, tobacco or drug usage.”
My story centers around sexual assault and how a victim might behave. Spoilers, if I do publish it: There’s s*icide, talk about but not shown any self-harm, alcohol abuse, and so on, but my story doesn’t promote any of that. In fact, I like to think does the opposite: educate on such topics.
I’m wondering if it’s inappropriate? Should I just not do it or can I continue working on it?
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I’m sorry you went through that.
I want to read it.
Do you have a link? or title? or anything?
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Yeah here is the link I’m reading Because of You: INK. Check it out: http://episodeinteractive.com/r/s/6472047829123072
A lot of from experience. My friend’s stories always have some sort of mental health theme as this is what she goes through on a daily bases. My advice is to consult with someone who’s been through what you want to write and get their perspective
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I think you should continue but there a lot to it with guidelines. Plus all the warnings you have to put since these topics are/can be triggering for other people. But i agree we need to educated people on such topics because A. No everyone experiences the same and B. Not everyone handles it the same.
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If it centers around the journey a survivor takes after being assaulted and contains non-graphic references to what happened, you should be okay. I would avoid starting the story with a scene where we see the assault. I mean, nothing graphic can happen on scene anyway, but I mean even implying the assault is taking place and fading to black is something I would recommend avoiding
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But it does start with the assault but there’s a skip placed on it though. He knocks her out when it happened so the screen faded to black. There’s a ton of flashbacks to that moment. Should I place a skip on them? There are nightmares. Do I place a skip on them, too? I’m sorry if I’m asking way too many questions. I don’t want to trigger anybody, and I want to follow the guidelines. Nothing too graphic happens on screen. I try to put it all offscreen.
I mean I think there’s a difference between what the guidelines might allow and what’s the most sensitive way to deal with this topic. For me, it would be about thinking about why it’s so important to show or repeatedly reference the details of such a traumatic event. If your story is really focusing on how the MC struggles and moves through her trauma, seeing flashbacks isn’t really necessary when we know she was assaulted. I do think trigger warnings and skip options work, but I would be asking myself - if I have to include so many skip options, is there a different way to frame the message?
I’m gonna be honest, as a survivor of a lot of violent trauma, I usually find it unsettling to have the details of an assault play a major role in how the journey of trying to heal is portrayed. Obviously having flashbacks does often entail reliving the event, but while pain in the body is often present, it’s really the psychological stuff that tends to stay with you. Even in flashbacks. So you could show her having nightmares - sleeping uncomfortably & tossing and turning, murmuring or yelling in her sleep, and then waking up suddenly and feeling disoriented and noticing her heart is beating really fast and she’s in fight or flight mode. Your readers would know what’s happening and you wouldn’t need flashbacks.
If you’re able to, I’d recommend checking out at least the first season of Jessica Jones. One of the things the show did really well was exploring how deeply traumatized she was and how it affected her everyday life without ever showing us details of the sexual assault itself
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Thank you.
I will check it out
If I was to write a story about a subject like that, I’d make sure to educate myself a lot before publishing because I wouldn’t want to hurt or offend anyone since I haven’t experienced anything like it myself. One thing is how I imagine it, another is how it actually is. The best, in my opinion, would be to draw from experience - your own or others, if you know someone who’s been through something traumatic.
As for details, there are guidelines as to how detailed you can be when it comes to these subjects, so I definitely wouldn’t be too graphic. Still I do think it’s important with a lot of background information so the story doesn’t become hollow and leave the readers with all kinds of unanswered questions. To me, how the characters feel is most important. Now that I would like a lot of details about but as for the physical part of triggering subjects - go easy on the details. My best advice would be to put a lot of effort into the emotions.
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hey can u tell me how u made a choice to skip
this is kinda alot and i dont rlly like talking abt it bc it makes me feel icky idk why but uh i used to have thoughts of wanting to k1ll myself because i was like “oh nobody really likes me” or whatever since i rlly didnt have anyone to talk to so im basing my story off of that and i also ask some of my friends since im “putting the light” on topics that arent really commonly talked about and what it was like with themm so!!!