Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 18:15:32 EDT From: "on the internet, no one knows you aren't a dog" Subject: Re: fill: question On Thu, 24 Jul 1997 21:48:05 CDT, Harald Schenk writes: :) Is this something that you would be willing to write about? Is this :) something that listmembers would be willing to read? Or would you consider :) it offensive? 1. I write about lots of things. I'm willing to write about almost anything. And sometimes, just for kicks, I follow Randy and others in writing about nothing at all (black holes, outer space, and similar gaps in our knowledge and experience can be fascinating, for example, and yet, there really isn't anything there at all!) 2. Nope, listmembers are not willing to read something. YOU have to grab them by the title, yank them in with a well-baited hook, and make them read it, kicking, squirming, thinking about the bills piling up in their U.S. mail, hearing the siren call of the boob tube shows, having ugly flashes of little pop up icons of mailboxes saying "You have new mail!", and all the other things that can distract them from your piece. 3. Offensive? Nah. Give people a little warning if the violence/sex/etc. seems unusually intense. But the topic of a "negative sexual experience" does not seem inherently offensive to me. I might complain about the approach taken -- e.g., I've seen pieces that assume that ALL men are rapists or ALL women make false accusations of rape, and I find that kind of claim or assumption somewhat offensive. And trolling--deliberately trying to get other people to reveal their "tender spots" so that you can hurt people--irritates me. But, basically, WRITE! If a negative sexual experience (or a positive one!) really provides you with the impetus and drive to put finger to keyboard (pen to paper, marker on whiteboard, stylus to papyrus, or chisel to clay?), then DO IT! Write it up. Polish it until it feels ready. Then post it! tink