Forums » Writing Workshop » Read Thread

If I make a story where you can die and you also k*ll zombies, what should i put the maturity at? Might be a dumb question but i wasn't sure

Depends on how graphic. I would put that middle-way. Personally I almost always go maximal just in case the story directs me to something really graphic. But if you avoid copious details, it seems middle ground to me. If you include vivid descriptions of gore, probably bump it up a notch. If you include anything that could trigger people (sexual assault, brutal murder of infants/young children, torture, etc) or have a massive amount of vividly described death and gore, you'll want that up to the max or near it.

But if it is killing a lot of zombies without really getting into great detail, probably a middle ranking is what I would go for.

Think of how movies are rated. In the US, consider G, PG, PG-13 and R. Our system puts 4 at "Need to be accompanied by an adult). So if what you have will be PG-13, then 4 or 5 probably fits (need a parent).

"You turn around as one of them slices your throat with the dagger you lost, you stab him in the heart after he cuts your throat with the very blade you kept wrapped to your leg for years. You run back to the campsite, blood running down your fingers and neck. You make it to your campsite and grab your bag while the world around you grows blurry and you struggle to breathe. You reach in your bag and your fingers finally grasp the gel given to you by the healer. You take it out and see the tin of the can before taking your last breath, dying before you're able to save yourself." 

This is the first draft of the death scene and is pretty much as gory as I plan it to get unless I change my mind on that.

To me that fits somewhere between 4 and 6. If there's a lot of this, I'd probably put it at 5. If it starts getting gratuitus, put it at 6. If it involves other factors (extra maliciousness, torture, sexual sadism, etc.) put it at 7.

Also, I feel like I failed to do my duty earlier by not including this. Read through this and see if it helps you:

Endmaster's Map to (Im)Mature Story Writing.

Why the fuck did you block out kill?

It's kind of insulting to suggest CYStia would have those ridiculous filters that the rest of the internet seems to be adopting. Somdeay they'll make us all say "unalive" and other stupid shit.

That "unalive" shit is some double plus faggotry.

I didn't mean to suggest that I just did. 

Well, If you rate it an 8, I am pretty sure every 10 year old that comes across it will definitely read it.

And technically, I don't think you can actually "kill" a zombie.  Generally they are already dead.  Or at least have already died and are now undead - one that is dead but reanimated.  So in effect you are not truly killing the zombie but merely deanimating it, which is a family friendly activity that all ages should enjoy.