What defines gratuitous violence?

I kinda hate this answer, but it really fits here: I suggest looking at past winners for examples of what was acceptible. Volume 35 is particularly dark (and good), so I would start there.

@martin-l-shoemaker I won't be able to get ahold of Volume 35 before the deadline. So it can't help me with the problem I'm facing editing right now.

The line is blurry, but I can share some opinions.

Violence that happens off the page is usually not gratuitous, unless the aftermath is described in horrific detail. Really horrific. Finding a dead body isn't gratuitous. Finding a dead body ripped to pieces isn't gratuitous. Descriptions of the pieces (like in a typical episode of Bones) isn't gratuitous. Description of the state of the pieces is getting worse, but not bad. Fabricating and telling stories of what happened to the pieces is nearing the line. Telling a long narrative of what the investigator thinks happened might as well be telling us the violence as it happened; but you still have a little buffer because it's off the page.

Violence against minor, unnamed characters is less gratuitous than violence against named characters. That's irrational, but that's the way the reader mind works. A bunch of dead minions are less horrifying than one dead ally.

Violence against kids, dogs, cats, and other "innocent" creatures (not including attacking creatures and monsters) is much more likely to be gratuitous.

Sadism and torture are likely gratuitous, unless you discuss them a little obliquely.

Beyond that is sort of a scale. Again, my opinion is something from least to most gratuitous:

• Shooting somebody.
• Shooting and killing somebody.
• Shooting somebody in the head.
• Shooting someone's head off.
• Shooting someone in the head and watching the brains spray out the back. (This is pretty much the gratuitous line for me.)
• Shooting someone in the head and watching the brains spray all over their kid.
• Beating someone's head in with a pipe.
• Repeatedly bashing someone's head with a pipe.
• Repeatedly bashing someone's head with a pipe and watching the brains fly.
• Repeatedly bashing someone's head with a pipe and watching the brains fly all over their kid.
• Repeatedly bashing someone's head with a pipe and watching the brains fly all over their kid while you laugh maniacally and say, "You're next, kid!"

(Pardon me, my brain needs a shower...)

@martin-l-shoemaker Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I really didn't expect you to comment yourself. While that gradation is certainly helpful, it sadly still misses the mark for the scenes I'm picking over. As it is the circumstances and context of the passages that the gratuity hinges on, I think.  

Either way, I'll probably just have to submit and see what comes. Thanks again. 

Posted by: @sorenwilder

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Reviewing Mr. Shoemaker's article about the contest's unwritten rules, what exactly defines gratuitous violence? Where is the line drawn? Because I am agonizing over my last rounds of editing because of a few passages I am now paranoid about. 

Instincts can be powerful allies if you listen to them. If those few passages are giving you pause because you feel they might be a little too graphic to be acceptable in the contest, you're probably right. Go with your gut, unless of course your guts are spilling out of your belly because a burglar slashed you open with a pair of rusty kitchen scissors in front of your kid...

Posted by: @morgan-broadhead

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Go with your gut, unless of course your guts are spilling out of your belly because a burglar slashed you open with a pair of rusty kitchen scissors in front of your kid...

But if your kid was at school when you were cut open, then stick with your gut.

@morgan-broadhead that being said. I was concerned my last submission might be too graphic. It is a subjective term. But I got an HM so I guess it was ok.

@sorenwilder I'd be happy to send you my story if you want an example of what probably fits in the guidelines. It's 4600 words so not too long a read and I always appreciate feedback. And then you don't have to hunt through previous winners trying to find one with a bit of violence.

@undreamedages Of course. I'd love to read it. Seeing some other work from the contest would be a pleasure.

@morgan-broadhead The thing is I didn't give the passages a second glance for content until I read the article. So it really isn't my instinct talking. And the problem is that none of the usual examples (shooting--shooting and killing--shooting and killing and seeing brain splatter) really apply due to the two passages' circumstances. The basic actions can probably be described fairly obliquely, but the story surrounding them cannot.

Is it completely necessary to the plot? Then it's not gratuitous. There have been (recent) winners where multiple people are ripped apart, or just one person in slow, agonizing detail. But they affect, directly or in-directly, character arcs (specifically the main character's) and the overarching plot, so it's not gratuitous.

Feel free to send me your story and I'll let you know if I think it's gratuitous or not.

Aside from that, I recommend reading the latest two or three or five volumes as time allows. After reading Martin's rules and Wulf's secrets, there's nothing you can do that will help you in this contest more.

@ease Thank you so much for the offer, however, I don't believe it is necessary. Reading your comment over, the passages are absolutely vital to the protagonist's arc, and I have rewritten them to be more oblique, and to incorporate the obliqueness into the narrative. So I believe I should be fine.