Tag Archives: Angry
We Are All Saying Something
While roaming around the Internet this morning I came across a link to an article entitled 25 Things Writers Should Start Doing (LINK), now normally I tend to skip over links like these as I have seen their like in the past and they all tend to say the same things. Nonetheless I did click this one in the hopes that its author had come across something extra profound, I started skimming down the list not seeing anything overly original when number six caught my attention it was as follows “Start Saying Something: You are your writing and your writing is you, and if you’re not using your writing to say something — to speak your mind, to fertilize the fictional ground with your idea-seed in an act of literary Onanism — then what’s the damn point? You have a perspective. Use it.”
This gave me pause, and ignoring the mildly inappropriate metaphor, there is literally no part of this thing that I agree with. This person seems to be saying that writers need to stop writing for writings sake, as if the simple telling of a story is unworthy to be passed onto readers. That writers, who are not writing to get a ‘message’ or a ‘point’ across to their audience, have no place in the literary community. I have to call B.S. on this because there has never been a book, poem, play, or script written that did not have some message behind it, it is not always apparent, nor is it always profound but it is there, in fact I challenge any person to bring me book that doesn’t try to get some point across, I would love to read such a book if one existed, I would have the opportunity of reading something that had never been tried before, something truly original.
Now perhaps what the author of this list meant to say was that writers should be including in their works messages in regards to big/controversial topics of today, things like politics and religion. Now if that was what they meant I have to ask; don’t we already have enough of those works in the market? Aren’t there enough people writing on such topics? I certainly believe that there are, I know of no shortage of controversial books, they make up a big portion of the market.
If that is the idea that the author of this was trying to get across I also pose this question. What is wrong with various forms of literature that passes on simpler, non-hot-button topics, things like right and wrong, kindness, courage, etc.? I would argue in fact that it is just those kinds off messages that need to be passed on most right now, making sure that the youth of today grows up with good morals and ethics not have them confused over some obscure topic that will likely never play an impact on their lives.
So what am I trying to say here? Am I saying that writers should stop writing about these big ticket items? No. Am I saying that they should focus instead on passing on correct morals? No. What I am trying to say is that every writer has a purpose to what they are writing whether or not the reader can see that plays no part in it, they have a message to get across; and no reader or fellow writer has the right to dictate to them if they think that purpose is ‘worthy’. Instead of telling writers what they should write take it into your own hands or stick to reading those that do talk about what you want, avoid those whose messages you disagree with.
Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments below.