When Cancel Culture Rises from the Grave

Throughout the years, I have read books that have shocked me and rocked me to the core. From indie books such as Woom to mainstream works like IT by Stephen King. Some writers love to push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable. While some readers turn away in disgust, others find themselves drawn to this more sadistic side of storytelling.

Writers often pour their deepest and darkest thoughts into their work—just as songwriters, artists, and actors do. We open up that locked box of all our messed-up thoughts, emotions, and feelings, and throw them out into the world. Things we would never say in public, or scenes we would never act out in real life.

The best creators are often tortured in some way, and a little messed up. This is why the best music is made when artists are scraping the barrel and barely functioning through addiction, and why the best artists and writers are those who are crippled by heartbreak and substance misuse. Look at Edgar Allan Poe, Van Gogh, Nirvana, and more. Some of the greatest, most influential artists in their fields let their sick and tortured emotions run riot upon the canvas, allowing it to flow into the world, and at one point, we loved it. Writers and artists stood for something. People complained, yes, but the writer rarely apologised for it, and publishers backed them.

This is what storytelling is. It’s stepping into a world away from our own and lifting the veil on what is going on inside someone's mind in the shadows. And we love it. We love reading, hearing, and feeling those emotions of pain. We love wrestling with moral conundrums and philosophical arguments that the creator conveys to us.

And then, people got sensitive, and offence became currency.

Recently, I became aware of a writer named Sophie Lark, who found herself on the receiving end of backlash because she wrote something in one of her novels that someone found offensive. This ‘fan’ decided to post it online, without context, and the post blew up. People were calling for the writer’s blood, insisting she should be struck from her publisher and banished from the face of the earth—all because someone, somewhere, found something offensive in her work.

I shook my head when I heard this. I couldn’t believe we still live in a world so full of sensibilities, trigger warnings, and mollycoddling to people's feelings when creating something that isn’t even real.

Surely, that is the point of artwork—to challenge the norm, to poke at the fabric of what is considered decent, and to force emotions and ask questions that make the reader think.

Now, you may think that this writer wrote something truly awful, perhaps screaming some racist or disgusting rhetoric. No, far from it. She wrote the line:

“But shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?”

This is clearly a character making a satirical comment about someone else in the story. The poster and complainer went on to say they couldn’t believe other characters in the story didn’t challenge the character who said this. What in the world? Are we seriously getting upset that a fictional set of characters didn’t challenge another fictional character over something said in a fictional book? What the hell has the world come to?

The complainer also got upset because the author referenced Elon Musk in the book, and this, of course, is like saying “Beetlejuice” to the woke mob.

In response to this, rather than the publisher and author sitting tight and riding out the storm until the complainers found something else to be outraged about—or, even better, doubling down and stating that if they didn’t like it, they could find another author to read—they released a statement:

I want to start by saying how much I appreciate this community. Your passion, support, and willingness to engage in meaningful conversations have always meant the world to me. That’s why it's so important for me to address something I got wrong.

It has been brought to my attention that certain lines in Sparrow and Vine were hurtful. Reading your messages and hearing your perspectives over the last twenty-four hours has been humbling, and I want to acknowledge the pain my words have caused. I am truly sorry. My intention was to craft and demonstrate a flawed main character, but instead, I wrote dialogue that read as attacking to a community that I care about very much.

During the editing process, Bloom recommended removing these lines, and I made the wrong choice in keeping them. I now understand that impact matters more than intent, and I regret that my words caused harm. Please don’t blame Bloom for my mistakes.

I wrote this back in the summer of 2024, and a lot has changed in the world since then, particularly regarding the fate of immigrants worldwide and certain public figures. Some things I would write differently now, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Words mean nothing without action, so I am pausing this book and this series for some re-writes to ensure that my work doesn’t contribute to harm.

I will also be listening more closely to our sensitivity readers and taking additional steps to educate myself on responsible storytelling. And to those who took the time to share their feedback, thank you. To those I have hurt, I am very sorry. I hope I can earn your trust back in the future.

This statement is pathetic and grovelling. An attempt to appease those who cannot accept that someone thinks differently to them or is capable of redemption. Sensitivity readers? Educating yourself? You are selling out by appealing to those that do not want to hear it.

So, you wrote a line about migrants. It’s fiction. So, you wrote about Elon Musk. Who cares? It’s your art, and you decide what goes in it.

By apologising, they have played into the hands of those who would love to see them burn. Further comments on this apology were that it wasn’t sincere enough, not thought out enough, not good enough, and so on. Anyone asking for further context to the quotes were doxed as being part of the problem.

What happened to reading? When did everyone get so damn offended over everything?

Apologising for something you said when you believed it to be the right thing in the first place not only validates those who wish to see you destroyed but also alienates those who want to cheer you on.

This is why it is so important to make your own mark in the sand, letting those who think the same way as you and enjoy your authentic self, find you. This is also the issue with writing to mass market, and trying to be vanilla and appeal to everyone. By standing for nothing, you will fall for anything. The writer in this case now has not only angered the mob, but has alienated her existing audience due to her giving in.

By pandering to feelings and playing to the sensibilities of those who may read or digest your work, you are ensuring that your audience will never be happy. They will happily kick the chair from under you when you are suffocating with the rope of outrage around your throat.

You cannot, and should not, try to please everyone. Stand for something, and stand strong. That way, when the hurricane of cancellation comes, you will have strong foundations around you to weather the storm.

Not only that, but cancellation can also actually help someone get bigger. Because suddenly, everyone is talking about them. I had people ask me who this writer was, and what the book was. The person that doxed them online, actually made them famous.

If it wasn’t for the grovelling apology, I may have considered reading the book myself.

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Trigger Warnings Ruin Books, And This Is Why.

Jay Darkmoore

I’m browsing through the bookshelf. See a book I like the look of, flick through the first couple of pages and I am confronted with a page that says ‘Warning, this may contain content that is upsetting for some readers,’ followed by a long shopping list of things that may traumatise me.  

I immediately put that book down, and I don’t touch it again. I don’t being pandered to. I wouldn’t say I like that the writer thinks that I am so unable to handle my own emotions that they must warn me before I take a step into their world.

Dear writer – Do not pander to me. I am not a fucking child. I can handle my own emotions.

But there are more reasons why trigger warnings ruin books than simply the writer feeling that they need to hold my hand and carefully guide me through the pages, just in case I get a little bit sad at the squiggly lines –

1 – The Word ‘Triggered’ Is NOT The Same As Being Upset.

The word triggered comes from psychology. It means to be triggered into a PTSD emotional flashback, to the point where something – an event, like combat and war – happened, and you are transported back to that situation and how you felt at the time. It means that your body reacts and your hormones spike. It means that you begin to shake, to run, to fight. You lose control of yourself because the stimulus has ‘triggered’ significant trauma. It hasn’t just upset or offended you. Being offended is a choice. Remember that. You CHOOSE to be offended and you CHOOSE to be angry.

You do not choose to be triggered. Stop saying being angry is the same as being triggered. They are worlds apart, and it’s very, very disrespectful to actual sufferers of PTSD and trauma to say you got triggered because you read about a bad thing happening that made you feel sad.  

2 – Your Feelings Aren’t My Responsibility

When I write a book, I write the best thing for the story and the characters. Honestly? The reader comes second. The artwork comes first. I write stories that I want to read, and through that I attract likeminded readers. Readers who will then follow me and my work and become true lasting, loyal fans.

If someone reads my work and they do not like it, then fine. I’m not the writer for them. But I couldn’t possibly pander to every possible reader’s wants and needs. It would be impossible. Not to mention that I wouldn’t be being my authentic self. The self that has made my books be downloaded and purchased thousands and thousands of times.

I tell the story that best fits the narrative and the situation for the best book possible. If I started censoring myself, thinking how would this be viewed or perceived, then that wouldn’t be the best result for the book, would it? I would be cheating the art to appeal to a small minority of people, instead of writing the book I wanted to write and giving an authentic experience. If a reader needs a trigger warning, then they probably won’t enjoy my books anyway!

If you read something in a book that is upsetting, and then get angry at the writer for not warning you that such things were going to be in the book, then that sounds like your problem. If two people read the same text, and one gets upset by it, and the other doesn’t, isn’t it the reader that is to blame? Isn’t that the problem of the reader not being able to handle their emotions, rather than the writer for writing it? It’s like getting upset over a joke a comedian makes. We focus in on what upsets us, and then we blame the person that delivered it to us. As the saying goes ‘don’t shoot the messenger.’ Your feelings are no one else’s responsibility to manage other than your own. Get your shit together.

Read the best-selling crime novel ‘Left for Dead,’ by Jay Darkmoore

3 – You’re Confusing Writing About The Bad Thing As The Bad Thing.

If I write a scene about a bad thing happening, someone might think I am condoning it or that that writing about it is exactly the same thing as the bad thing happening. This, frankly, is just fucking ridiculous.

4 – Your Trauma. Your Problem.

If you have trauma, then join the club. Everyone has trauma. Everyone suffers from mental health issues from tome to time. Everyone has something bad that has happened to them in the past. You aren’t special. Your trauma doesn’t make you unique. It makes you just like everyone else.

Therefore, your trauma and your mental health is your responsibility to manage. Not anyone else’s. If you can’t handle reading something that upsets you, then you need to sort that shit out.

The Real Story Behind ‘Left For Dead.’

5 – Life Doesn’t Come With Trigger Warnings

No body is going to warn you before they insult you, attack you or hurt you. No one is going to warn you before a car pulls out in front of you on the motorway. The weather isn’t going to warn you a week before there is an earthquake that destroys your home. So why should a damn book? Its ink on a piece of paper. It isn’t that scary...

6 – You’re Waiting For The Bad Thing to Happen, And It Ruins The Flow and Authenticity Of The Book.

If I am writing a book and I want something a little shocking or uncomfortable to read to help a scene be more impactful, it kind of loses that when I have already warned you about it.

Imagine your partner is going to propose and they set all the flowers, the lights, the music and the most amazing ring, but they showed you the ring first before doing it, just so you weren’t caught off guard (which would be exactly the point in the scenario), then it wouldn’t feel as immersive, would it? If someone warns you about something that happens in the book, it takes away the strong emotion which the writer wants you to have when reading it. It’s basically a spoiler.

Not to mention, you then spend the whole time reading just waiting for the bad thing to happen, meaning that you can’t lose yourself in the book you’re reading.

Read ‘It Starts with Us,’ by Colleen Hoover

7 – You Don’t Know How Severe The Trigger Is Going to Be.

If I write a book and I tell you that it involved animal cruelty, then you might think of me gutting an animal and being cruel to it. I may just mean a character pushes a dog down a hill. Both mean things to do. One much more severe.

With a trigger warning, your mind goes to the worst-case scenario, meaning that your guard is then up.

8 – If The Genre Is Known For Upsetting Topics, And You Get Upset, Then You Were Already Warned.

I write thrillers and horror novels. My covers are dark and macabre. From the titles, the covers, and the genre alone, you should know that there is going to be some topics a little close to the bone. If you get blindsided and upset by something you read, then my friend, that’s on you.

8 – THEY DON’T WORK

Research suggests that trigger warning make anxiety to worse due to waiting for the bad thing to happen. You’re waiting to be upset, so you can’t get lost in the story.

So, in conclusion, I think we need to step away from this whole thing of books needing to be censored or the need to have sensitivity readers going over old books so they don’t offend someone. Do you want a safe space, or do you want to be transported to a new world and discover things you never knew possible? Do you want to live in a safe box filled with teddy bears and cotton wool, or do you to actually feel something when you read a book?

And remember. If you read something upsetting, you can always just skip that part, or hell, put the book down and get on with your life.

It’s been a pleasure. If you enjoyed this blog, then why not drop me an email.

jaydarkmoore@gmail.com

-          J

About the author -

Jay Darkmoore is a UK-based author with a background in crime and investigation. He is a huge fan of all things dark - exploring the macabre, demonic and darker aspects of the human psyche.

Jay likes putting his characters in terrible situations and then turning out all the lights. To date, he has self-published novels of horror, crime and dark fantasy dystopia. His inspirations are Stephen King, Keith C Blackmore and Nick Cutter.

When not at his desk, Jay spends his free time making YouTube videos to help writers in their craft, promoting other books he has enjoyed, as well as hitting the gym and taking wild cold plunges with ducks.

He is a single parent to his son Joe who is his biggest fan.