Dual Blogger Dual Blogging (Or Am I Going Crazy?)

Back in March I took the massive decision to join my friends over at The Regal Critiques as a co-blogger. Co-blogging has always made sense to me. I need that support! And I massively underestimated how difficult it would be (and rewarding by the way). My blogging output has increased in quality but decreased massively in quantity and at the moment my goal is to find a balance. Meanwhile, I've developed a totally different writing style over at The Regal Critiques than I have here. Both are authentically me and both reflect my thoughts and personality but in such different ways that I have confused myself on occasions! Also - different fonts and post layouts, different schedules. I'm an easily confused gal. 

None of this is by any means a bad thing. Back when I first started blogging my reading took a significant drop. If you look back through my goodreads challenges the time before blogging had me reading frankly ridiculous amounts of books that I can't even comprehend right now. And sometimes, yeah, I miss being able to just zip through books like that. But then I think how much more I enjoy books now - how much I love discussing them with people who love books as much as I do. How much I enjoy just slowly reading a book and then fangirling online about why and how I love it. 

For me this new blogging experience is similar. I sometimes feel like a failure because I'm not posting every day like I did a year ago. But my life has changed since then, my responsibilities have changed and I've opened myself up to new experiences. So as guilty as I feel (and will continue to feel for a while probably) about dividing my time between two blogs I'm slowly coming to realise - I love both blogs, I love both versions of "me" that I express between them. And I love how proud I am of every post I do now. Even if those posts are so very much fewer than they once were.

Being a co-blogger on two blogs is challenging in a million different ways - all of which probably deserve a whole separate post - but it's so much more rewarding and exciting. And hey, me and Ann have now thrown our YouTube channel into the mix (subscribe to Dual Reads if you're interested) so that's three blogs. I'm definitely over-ambitious and probably a little crazy. But I absolutely love it. 

What is the biggest blogging challenge you've taken on and how do you feel about it now? Or what challenge do you want to take on and what's holding you back? 

Discussion Post: Trigger Warnings

Trigger warnings seem to be an incredibly controversial point at the moment. A well known YA author took to twitter to criticise them and bemoan the fragility of those who ask for them. This isn't an attempt at arguing with him - I feel like that would be pretty futile anyway as he seems very sure of his viewpoint. But I seem to have a lot of thoughts on Trigger Warnings so I thought I'd make this post - whether I'll ever be brave enough to post it is a whole other issue.

Firstly, and speaking personally, trigger warnings are hugely important to me. I have triggers. I don't hugely want to go into what they are because that's almost a discussion for a whole other time. But they're serious and getting triggered can have hugely negative affects on me. Recently I was triggered by a book at a time when I was already going through a rough spot and it sent me into a bad spiral which affected my personal life (I also vanished from blogging and reading for a few days because I couldn't handle it). In this instance a simple trigger warning in the blurb of the book could have prevented all of that. Time and time again I rely on trigger warnings to advise me on a book, whether it's going to be shaky but I can handle it or if its too much for me or if it's perfectly OK - I need them and a lot of other people do too.

On a practical note think of allergen warnings in detergent or in foods. Nobody has ever argued that a chocolate bar should definitely not have allergen warnings because it might spoil the surprise of eating the bar. Of course not. Because not having the warning would cause harm to a lot of people. Now I understand that a book and food are very different things. But why shouldn't the same rules apply? I haven't got any food allergies so I never check the allergy section of food. My Mum is allergic to gluten so she does check. If you have trigger warnings you can check the blurb for them, if you don't they are very easily ignored. 

A refusal to include trigger warnings, to me, seems at best neglectful and careless and at worst downright cruel. To state that people with triggers, people like myself, don't deserve to be protected from any harm that might come to us through them is heartbreaking. It's a statement that our problems, our anxiety or depression or trauma is just not important. And that... kinda hurts.

I don't think I'm fragile. I've had chronic depression and anxiety for over eight years, the fact that I even survived some of what I've experienced is kind of a shock to me. And whilst when I was first diagnosed I thought I was so weak and pathetic - I'm not. I've survived. And if I have any say in the matter I will keep on surviving. So I'm not being weak or needy or easily offended when I say that I need that warning, I need that help because without it my mental health is even more at risk. I will always include trigger warnings in my reviews because I think it's an important part of any decision when choosing to buy a book and I definitely wouldn't want to recommend a book without including trigger warnings and wind up causing harm to someone who reads it on my recommendation. I will however be more clearly signposting them in reviews by including a clearly marked section of the review for people to check.

I'd love to know what you think of trigger warnings! Do you think there's a way they can be implemented without accidentally spoiling people? Do you include trigger warnings in your review? (And if you disagree with me completely feel free to say so - this is a discussion!)

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