Earlier I was speaking with a friend and the subject turned to blogs that seemed to be a bit.. fanciful. There are a few “Domme” blogs that I read that I often think, “This has to be written by a man”. There are several others where I often find myself wondering how anyone can possibly do “x”. In spite of my suspicions about the accuracy of the tales, I still enjoy reading them. The authors write well and the commenters usually share interesting points of view.
When you find yourself reading blog posts that seem to stretch the truth by a little or a lot, does this turn you away from the blog completely or do you simply read it and take the information presented “for what it’s worth”? Would you prefer that the author state in the small print it was a work of fiction or would that ruin the suspension of disbelief? Would you read such a pseudo-real blog or would you prefer out and out fiction in say, short story format?
No related posts.
I definitely take it “for what it’s worth.” You never really know…do you? Sometimes truth IS stranger than fiction.
For me, there needs to exist beside the obviously untrue, a certain artiness of style that sets the account apart from “reporting”. The story does not have to come right out and *say* that it is fiction, nor does it have to betray itself as such by any level of exaggeration. It just needs to be written in a manner that is less serious or more imaginary than biographical facts. This difference in style is sometimes very hard to lay a finger on, and is in fact rather difficult to describe here.
So, does it matter to me at all if the words are really true? Not if I read with the intent to enjoy and that intent is satisfied. (Pertains to entertainment writing only, of course.)
Arafin
I prefer it to be real. However if presented as fiction that is just fine. Just be honest about it. Or say based on real events. If it is well written I will enjoy it.
Much of the time it is easy to see through the gauzy filter that separates reality from fiction. Some blogs begin real, and they evolve to fiction. Others are total fakes from the start. I don’t claim full expertise in separating fact from fiction, but I have debunked many over the last few years. There is something that is insistant when the blog is real. Then there is something nagging when it is borderline. Of course, there is the blatant fakery.
I would prefer the author to state from the start whether he/she writes fact or fiction. As much fun as it is to debunk claimed reality, I still much enjoy fiction. Knowing that it is fantasy does not detract from my enjoyment. But I do lose respect for writers who claim reality but present fantasy.
I have a huge problem with misrepresentation. I understand on the internet that some details will get modified to help people maintain anonymity, for instance, or just for spice. I’m okay with that.
But when someone completely misrepresents fiction as fact, he is saying, “You’re too stupid to figure out I’m making all this up.” At that point, I completely stop caring about anything else the person might have to say.
I blow them off.
Look, I subscribe to several hundred blogs with a wide variety of interests, and I’m always stumbling over new ones. But when I read something that’s very formulaic, I know it’s written by a guy who is either looking for attention, or trying to live out some fantasy and hoping that he will drag other people into it.
Of course, I also blow off a lot of blogs that are just poorly written, too. :-)
In the beginning of our acknowledged wife ledness I read alot of blogs and the ones that were pure fantasy or probably were, I found stimulating and was wondering how I could incorporate that into my marriage. But it didn’t take me long to realize that wasn’t healthy. It was destructive. Besides the obvious of pushing too hard too fast, it just wasn’t us.
All marriages have to find their own rythym.
Hmm. It’s challenging, since you never do really know. When I read a blog regularly, and my “spidey senses” start telling me that it is fake, I quickly lose interest. I have no tolerance for being lied to. I’m doubtful my filters are 100% accurate. I’ve no doubt blown off blogs that were real. On the other hand, I’ve also, no doubt, walked away from blogs written by people who were getting their rocks off pretending to be someone they’re not.
If someone enjoys writing fiction, by all means do so and label it as such. I think it’s rather pathetic to try to pass off a fiction as your own life.
I don’t think I mind too much in principle when fact is presented as fiction. I find it annoying, and it can be tedious having to point out to people that being fiction means that I am not going to respond in the ways that they hope I will. But otherwise, so what? People pretend their lives are more enjoyable than they actually are, and then they write about it. I can live with that. I’m glad that my life has plenty of factual interestingness in it, and I’m grateful that I’m not one of those people who has to make stuff up to write about.
Mostly what alerts me to fictional content is transgressions of consent. Unlike the principle of fact presented as fiction, transgressions of consent do bother me a lot, and guarantee that I will find the material unpleasant and a turn-off. I feel particularly disturbed by transgressions of consent which the author presents as justifiable simply because they are part of the author’s kink. For me, any attempt to legitimise transgression of consent is always a huge turn-off, because for me, consent transgression = abuse, and for me abuse is never justifiable and always repellent.
I remember one post which I felt was particularly loathsome. This story was presented as if it were factual. The author (in the rôle of dominant wife) was describing sending her submissive husband to be waxed at his regular salon. She’d given him a note to give to the waxer, and in that note was a suggestion to the waxer that she take charge of him, extend his chastity by however long she wanted, and enjoy herself with him, “because this is the lifestyle we selected”.
The story continued with the waxer being turned on by this idea and subsequently taking charge of the husband in a way which I thought was likely to be male-fantasy-fiction driven.
The “because this is the lifestyle we selected” part really bothered me a whole lot, because however much negotiation, selection and choice was going on between the wife and the husband, in the story as it was presented the waxer had no part whatsoever in any of their negotiation, selection or choice. I considered the waxer’s consent to have been transgressed, and therefore my response to the story was decidedly unpleasant.
Nearly all of my kinky acquaintances mention The Secretary as an excellent film with sympathetic portrayal of BDSM. I always disagree with this and cite as my reason the part at the beginning where the secretary’s consent was transgressed, making the entire basis of their relationship unconsensual. Of the people who support The Secretary as a positive portrayal of BDSM, every single one responded to my reason with something like “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”
Ugh. I don’t like what that says about most people’s regard for consent.
In principle I’d prefer people were straightforward and identified their fiction to the reader. I can enjoy reading fiction presented as fact as long as the story is completely consensual. I do sometimes feel that I am being unconsensually included in the author’s fantasy by the author’s attempts to engage the factual me to respond to their fictional story, and that bothers me for the reasons I mentioned. I consider transgressions of consent in factual content to be a matter for local law enforcement.
However much I accept that transgression of consent is intensely arousing to many, to me it is probably my biggest ever turn-off. And since so much fictional content features transgressions of consent, including fictional content presented as fact, this is my primary issue with fiction presented as fact.