Tutorials & Resources Genres of NU

I don't know why, you basically had it. Something like.

Mature
Content suitable for those age 17 and up. May contain controversial themes, implicit sexual content, intense violence, blood and gore, and/or drug and alcohol abuse.

I don't think it's more complicated than that.
You could always rip off the ESRB if you aren't sure.

But, hey, if you want to use it exclusively as some sort of vague "mature themes" thing, more power to ya.

 

The definition that you just gave, other than the controversial themes bit, could be easily confused with adult. It almost sounds like a less explicit 'adult' genre, which is not quite what it is.

Mature is not necessarily implicit or explicit in nature. It's how it handles controversial themes.

 

While I get what you're saying, there is plenty of borderline (implicit) content that does not warrant an adult tag. Rating systems like the ESRB rate in steps for that reason, and that's sort of the way I see Mature and Adult. Adult just being one step higher on the rating ladder.

I do understand where you're coming from with the idea that Mature could just tag novels that deal with very serious topics, like death, addiction, rape, abortion, war, plagues... So it's totally cool if you think it should be exclusively used in that manner. It does leave the matter of borderline content alone, but maybe you don't think you need a tag for content below the adult level.

IF that's the case, just throw the unnecessary bits out:

Mature
Content that deals with mature themes not suitable for a younger audience.
May explore subjects such as death, rape, abortion, illness and/or war.