Beautifully written, Shaina. In the age of trigger warning labels, it’s important to remember that life includes the “bad” stuff and it’s because of the presence of hardship that we come to appreciate the good in life. Great post.
It used to be obvious that including the "bad" stuff doesn't mean you the writer condones it, but much of that nuance has been lost. Even horror comes with content warnings now.
Yeah. There’s a loss of critical thinking. It honestly baffles me that you have to clarify that you of course don’t condone what happened in a book you write. You’re just telling the story. Now the mention of a word or topic that is off limits can get you in trouble
That's such a good point. I remember listening to Patrick Rothfuss talk about this. He said that he was getting angry fan mail about how one of his characters smoked a cigar and how he shouldn't promote smoking in his books. He tried to parse out that he wasn't promoting anything in his books by the mere inclusion of those things, otherwise the killing, sex, criminality, etc. would also then have to be him "promoting" it. I think he concluded that you simply can't argue with someone who thinks about writing in that way because it's a waste of time and energy. (maybe I'm misremembering, so I don't want to put words in Patrick's mouth that he didn't say verbatim. It's just how I remember the conversation.)
This is such an insightful piece of commentary that, unfortunately, will likely never be read by most of the people who should! And we need a good old fashioned civil rebellion against social media. I mean, how did Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, etc become defacto required reading?
Very good question, and one that I don't know the answer to. I am hoping, truly, that we are at the end of an era of social media as it has been. I think everyone is exhausted (and in some cases damaged) by it.
I just want to say, Shaina, I've always felt less alone and more genuinely understood when I've had conversations with you. And even now, in your sharing vulnerably and honestly, I feel a true kindred connection to you. And I fully appreciate and enjoy your ideas and thoughts. It's been what seems like a lifetime since I've seen or talked with you, and I'm just really happy that you're writing publicly. If I added a comment on this particular writing, I'd say that in the past 12 yrs, I've gone through more pain, suffering, grief, and loss than the the first 22 yrs I lived, and yet, its from all that, that the most invigorating life, actual growth, and true joy, has come forth. I always MUCH prefer to read, hear, and speak of the real, raw, hard stuff that gets to the beating heart of life than the fluffy, often one-sided stuff of social media.
Well said. The sort of shiny happy people who appear on 50s magazine covers and instagram weird me out. They don't look happy, they look demented, like people cosplaying their own lives. I can't imagine that's truly satisfying. Give me the hard stuff any day. At least I know it's real. And from an artistic point of view, I could not agree more. One of my favorite works is a medieval German poem by Gottfried von Strassburg called Tristan, and he makes a point at the beginning to say, basically, most people can't handle sorrow and are only interested in pleasure, but I want to experience life fully: grief, joy, pain, pleasure, life, death, and every combination thereof. The tragic poem is meant, he says, to free others from pain by its art. I've always found that really compelling...
It's National Book Day! This is such a solid and profound piece of writing on certain factions' exasperating tendency to negatively react fm narrow perspectives. Kudos to you for offering this well-written introspection to your readers. It is an absolute reference piece, Shaina.
The invisible man was banned?! Wow. In my secondary school, it was literature read by art students. I was science but I read the book and loved it. I can't think of a reason for this book to be banned.
First time reader, Shaina. This was fantastic!
Thanks for reading!
Great, great, great.
Beautifully written, Shaina. In the age of trigger warning labels, it’s important to remember that life includes the “bad” stuff and it’s because of the presence of hardship that we come to appreciate the good in life. Great post.
It used to be obvious that including the "bad" stuff doesn't mean you the writer condones it, but much of that nuance has been lost. Even horror comes with content warnings now.
Yeah. There’s a loss of critical thinking. It honestly baffles me that you have to clarify that you of course don’t condone what happened in a book you write. You’re just telling the story. Now the mention of a word or topic that is off limits can get you in trouble
That's honestly a big part of why I write under a pseudonym.
That's such a good point. I remember listening to Patrick Rothfuss talk about this. He said that he was getting angry fan mail about how one of his characters smoked a cigar and how he shouldn't promote smoking in his books. He tried to parse out that he wasn't promoting anything in his books by the mere inclusion of those things, otherwise the killing, sex, criminality, etc. would also then have to be him "promoting" it. I think he concluded that you simply can't argue with someone who thinks about writing in that way because it's a waste of time and energy. (maybe I'm misremembering, so I don't want to put words in Patrick's mouth that he didn't say verbatim. It's just how I remember the conversation.)
This is such an insightful piece of commentary that, unfortunately, will likely never be read by most of the people who should! And we need a good old fashioned civil rebellion against social media. I mean, how did Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, etc become defacto required reading?
Very good question, and one that I don't know the answer to. I am hoping, truly, that we are at the end of an era of social media as it has been. I think everyone is exhausted (and in some cases damaged) by it.
I just want to say, Shaina, I've always felt less alone and more genuinely understood when I've had conversations with you. And even now, in your sharing vulnerably and honestly, I feel a true kindred connection to you. And I fully appreciate and enjoy your ideas and thoughts. It's been what seems like a lifetime since I've seen or talked with you, and I'm just really happy that you're writing publicly. If I added a comment on this particular writing, I'd say that in the past 12 yrs, I've gone through more pain, suffering, grief, and loss than the the first 22 yrs I lived, and yet, its from all that, that the most invigorating life, actual growth, and true joy, has come forth. I always MUCH prefer to read, hear, and speak of the real, raw, hard stuff that gets to the beating heart of life than the fluffy, often one-sided stuff of social media.
Well said. The sort of shiny happy people who appear on 50s magazine covers and instagram weird me out. They don't look happy, they look demented, like people cosplaying their own lives. I can't imagine that's truly satisfying. Give me the hard stuff any day. At least I know it's real. And from an artistic point of view, I could not agree more. One of my favorite works is a medieval German poem by Gottfried von Strassburg called Tristan, and he makes a point at the beginning to say, basically, most people can't handle sorrow and are only interested in pleasure, but I want to experience life fully: grief, joy, pain, pleasure, life, death, and every combination thereof. The tragic poem is meant, he says, to free others from pain by its art. I've always found that really compelling...
Thanks!
It's National Book Day! This is such a solid and profound piece of writing on certain factions' exasperating tendency to negatively react fm narrow perspectives. Kudos to you for offering this well-written introspection to your readers. It is an absolute reference piece, Shaina.
The invisible man was banned?! Wow. In my secondary school, it was literature read by art students. I was science but I read the book and loved it. I can't think of a reason for this book to be banned.