Writing Blog Number 2

20241228 Messages In Writing

When Authors Demand To Be Heard

Sometimes an author has something to say, something they think is vital and important. They have very strong views and feelings about a topic. But what can they do?
         Hang on! That’s it! They are a writer! They’ll write it down!
         I am going to guess that a lot of writers have felt this way. I mean, writing is what we do, so why not use it? And so we write an essay, a “letter to the editor”, a blog post, an article, a poem, even a social media post, something like that. All good. And with our skill as writers, we can probably put forth a compelling case to an audience. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
         However!
         Sometimes an author really does seem to have a barrow to push, and a simple op-ed piece in whatever format is not going to be enough. This is when the author resorts to brow-beating a reader with what is on their mind in the course of a work of fiction.
         Yes, the theme can be whatever the author wants, and an entire story can push that along, and that is perfectly fine. But then there is the thinly-veiled author-insert character. This character has one purpose in a work and one purpose only – to espouse the beliefs of the author. In extremes, this can result in a series of scenes where the character gives speeches about whatever it is the author has their bugbear about. Or, in some cases, give one long, long, lo-o-o-ong speech spanning pages of a work.
         But it can be worse. Oh, yes, it most definitely can.
         This is when the author just dumps a diatribe in the middle of the story as part of the narrative prose. Not a character speaking, just some vague connection to the topic, and the author goes off on a rant. Again, pages can be wasted on this, and it really does break a reader’s immersion.
         When an author does this with a short story, it can kill any flow the work might have had. In a novel or longer work, it can result in skipping pages or readers giving up. And you would be surprised how often this happens. I have read a book where the author avatar character suddenly goes off for over a page on why Christianity is the only true religion. Fine, sure… if this was a religious book. It was science fiction, and religion only came up because they rescued a Muslim! And religion played no part in the rest of the book. At all. If the character had put it forth that was his view, that could have been fine, though, again, it had no impact on the story nor even on the character’s being. He certainly didn’t do things in a particularly Christian way. It was just the author throwing it in to show everyone what he felt.
         Look, as writers we can put whatever we want into a work. That is our right and that is perfectly fine. But if you want an audience to read your work and not be put off, these sorts of author diatribes should be avoided in an inappropriate setting. Use your skill as a writer and craft an entire story around your belief or the cause for you to rant. Don’t just blurt it out all at once in one long passage of you telling the reader what to think.
         In my opinion.