BSV Forum - Writing - General Tips

Ratings guidelines....

Jan 31 2007 04:18 pm   #1Caro Mio

We all pretty much get what goes into movie ratings, but where do you draw the line in writing? Is there a set standard of how much you can "show" in a book before it's bumped up another notch?

I'm asking because I'm never sure how much you can write into an R-rated chapter before it has to go to NC-17. I don't do the obvious things of including the crude words and such into a sex scene......it's clear what's going on, but it's not overt, you know?

So, what nudges a chapter into NC-17?

What If I'm Not the Slayer? now updated with chapters 22 and 23.
Jan 31 2007 04:35 pm   #2Diabola

Nope, I don't know the answer to this. I'm just commenting to tell you the rule I go by for this stuff - maybe it'll be helpful for others who don't understand your crazy american rating-system either. :lol:

Explicit sex-scenes, torture-scenes with lots of blood and guts and decriptions of how the victim screams -> NC-17

Complely tame stuff, no swearing, no sex, no blood, no nothing -> PG13 or G or whatever the lowest rating is.

Everything else -> R

This way I'm on the save side, and it is not like the kiddos take the ratings serious anyway. Some of them may stay away from NC-17 cos their parents told them to, or cos the sex is not yet interesting to them anyway, but I have yet to see a 15 year old who will hesitate to read something cos the rating says 16+.

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits." - Albert Einstein
Jan 31 2007 05:33 pm   #3Caro Mio

As far as American ratings for movies go:

G - general audiences, PG - no swearing, but older than what you'd take the really little ones to, PG-13 - some swearing, though usually limited to one or a few occurrences in appropriate situations...like someone blurting something out because of a sudden scare...and partial nudity especially if it is completely non-sexual, R - swear as much as you want, show nudity, sex but not explicit sex...violence but not so heavy as to make some of the audience barf.

I'm not really worried about kids, since some places I put stuff are kind of obscure, and not everyone reads Spike/OC, anyway, which is where my higher rated scenes lie. I just want to give an accurate representation to the readers, since not everyone likes to read NC-17.....at least not the overt sexual terms.

Love to get lots of input on this, guys!

What If I'm Not the Slayer? now updated with chapters 22 and 23.
Jan 31 2007 09:44 pm   #4DreamsofSpike

to me, if it's anything involving sex and violence as a *combination*, and it's described in detail as an actual scene in the story (as opposed to mentioning in passing that someone was raped, for example) i would automatically rate nc-17 to be on the safe side....also if it's explicitly described sex (he put his **** into her ****) or violence to the point of being disturbing (torture, etc.)

if there's bad language or sex scenes that are not so extreme or non-graphic violence...I would go with an R

I usually reserve pg-13 and g for fluffy sweet type fics..

which means i've never, *ever* used either of those ratings...*ahem*

lol

anyways, that's my opinion on the subject to add to the list :)

Jan 31 2007 11:47 pm   #5The Space Between

LOL My stuff is either rated NC17 or G...not much for in the middle LOL

Well...some stuff is kind of R-ish...but not always.

~*~ The Powers offer no sympathy for the way things are...Human deeds are left in human hands. It's what one does with what's left that makes any difference ~*~ Jenny Calander as created by HollyDB

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