Should fiction authors blog politics/current events/contentious issues?

Sincerity, and intent.

I read plenty of author blogs where the writer in question is opinionated and passionate... and has figured out how to be that way without resorting to "and if you disagree you are a stupid poopoohead."

I read a very small number of blogs where the writer does say things that amount to "stupid poopoohead" but has such good advice/hilarious euphemisms for poopoohead that I'll cut him or her a little slack. But the writing has to be amazing.

That's right. Great writing DOES cover a multitude of sins. Who knew.

Blogs written by out and out bigots, I don't have time to read. Someone mentioned Orson, and someone else mentioned that you can usually tell a raging asshole from their fiction. OSC's books started going downhill long before it came out that he's a bigot, because he started using his fiction to clobber readers over the head with his special brand of crazy. (What's the term, "sold his birthright for a plot of message"?) His subsequent hanging out of ass was really just a confirmation of the problem, not the actual problem.

Honesty in writing attracts people. (ETA: I believe some of OSC's problem is that he isn't being honest, not at the gut level. The guy who wrote the definitive outsider novel knows better than what he's saying now.) Aren't we supposed to be strong and vivid and use our active voices?

I don't think it's insincere to avoid certain subjects for whatever reason an author chooses. One can still be honest, open and truthful and not discuss certain things.

I write for kids. I know kids will be googling me. Now it was certainly my choice to make my internet presence one that is PG, not everyone needs to do that, but I didn't feel a need to share certain parts of myself online in the first place, so I figured why post things that my own readers couldn't access? Sure I write my blogs for grownups, I'm not writing specifically for kids, but there are certain subjects I avoid because I don't feel a need to address them. I get passionate about writing and publishing, about equality, about certain hobbies I have, and of course my cat (oh noes! Not cats on the internet! That must mean you have no personality and shouldn't be taken seriously Toothpaste!). I don't need to put 100% of who I am online, every belief, every little detail of my day to day life. In my mind, the internet is a tool, it's not a contract I made with my existence that if I don't put absolutely every thought I ever have out there I am not being honest with myself. I doubt you'd find a single one of my friends who'd say, "You know, Toothpaste is cool, but I wish she'd just open up a bit more." In person, I say it like it is. But again, with my friends. I don't go into my temp jobs and let everyone know everything about me. Why? It's none of their business.

Anyway, my point is, you are free to write about what you want, and others are free to judge you or not (and you'll note you can be equally badly judged for NOT sharing everything online so there's no winning). I think the key is to decide who are you professionally. There are authors who keep things to themselves. There are also authors I have met who are wonderfully acerbic and brutally honest, I enjoy hanging out with them very much. What would you say at a cocktail party with other authors, editors, agents, reviewers etc? Then, translate that to the net. And you're golden .

robjvargas said:

Wait. Freedom does not mean immunity from consequences.

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And where did I say there is no immunity from consequences?

Terie said:

The authors who take these kinds of stands are perfectly cognizant that they might alienate some readers, and they're willing to take that risk. Who is anyone else to tell them they shouldn't?

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Why, look. Right there in bold, I said that writers who take on these issues are willing to take the risk of alienating some readers.

The question that's the title of this post is, 'Should fiction authors blog politics/current events/contentious issues?' And I say, no one gets to tell anyone one else what they should or should not say. Quite a few folks here are saying, 'No, they shouldn't.' And sorry, but that's bollocks. We each get to choose what we say on our own blogs; we don't get to determine what others should and shouldn't say. If someone says, 'I choose not to,' that's totally cool. I happen to choose not to. But I'm certainly not going to go tell those who do that they shouldn't.

If someone has considered the possible and even likely consequences and then posts anyway, that's fine. I'm glad OSC has made his views known: saves me money on not buying any more of his books. He has a right to his opinion, I have a right not to buy books from people whose opinions are odious to me, and he made a considered choice in making his opinions known. I'm sure the backlash was no surprise to him; he's not an idiot.

My point is that, beyond not violating the law (commiting slander or libel, shouting 'fire' in a movie theatre, and so on), no one has any right to tell others what they should and shouldn't say in their own space. And several folks here have said, 'they [other writers] shouldn't'. That just gets up my nose.

Terie said:

My point is that, beyond not violating the law (commiting slander or libel, shouting 'fire' in a movie theatre, and so on), no one has any right to tell others what they should and shouldn't say in their own space. And several folks here have said, 'they [other writers] shouldn't'. That just gets up my nose.

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Then that goes back to the fact that we were asked. Should I impose my preferences upon you?

Nope.

But if you ask me, I'll tell you.

So I don't see any "borderline offensive" or "up my nose" to find here.

I can only speak for myself, and I don't want my personality at all tied to my work. It just seems completely irrelevant. My fiction comes from a very specific part of my brain, and I want the stories to stand on their own, completely away from all the random things about me that have nothing to do with the work.

I don't feel that way about other folks doing it, but I like keeping those things very separate, for me.

Terie said:

To be perfectly honest, I think it's borderline offensive for anyone, especially a writer, to suggest that other people not blog about whatever they damn well please. It goes to the heart of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The authors who take these kinds of stands are perfectly cognizant that they might alienate some readers, and they're willing to take that risk. Who is anyone else to tell them they shouldn't?

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But the thing is, not all of them ARE aware of that risk. With politics, sure, maybe they are. But with other things? They may not be.

IMO there's a big difference between telling someone NOT to do something and telling them they SHOULDN'T do something. No one should tell writers what they CAN write about, but I don't think it's all untoward for those with experience to tell beginning writers that they may want to avoid certain topics unless they enjoy being at the center of an internet shitstorm.

Would you not tell a writer they shouldn't respond to reviews, whether directly or on their own blog? Isn't that standard advice? You shouldn't do it. Don't do it. It only leads to trouble and being made to look like an ass.

Speaking as someone who's had blog posts wildly misrepresented all over the internet, I recommend people be very careful what they say. I tell writers that the internet could bite them on the ass and suddenly people who haven't even read my blog are claiming I said if you write a negative review you'll never get published. I warn readers of my light paranormals that my new series is much darker and that if they don't want to read something like that they may want to avoid the books and suddenly everyone is claiming I'm telling readers whether or not they're allowed to read my books and how to feel about them if they do. I ask a serious question about what constitutes "addiction" and if it's always harmful and suddenly, again, I see people claiming I've said antidepressants are worse than heroin.

By all means people should write what they feel comfortable writing on their blogs. But I can tell you from experience that being misrepresented, called names, made fun of, and talked shit about is not fun, and it is not conducive to happiness, and I recommend people not do it unless they enjoy that sort of thing--in a different discussion I mentioned people who want to be the Erich von Stroheim of genre fiction, and hey, if that's what people want to be, great, but some of us just want to have fun and connect with our readers and share our experiences, and having something you said with good intentions or curiosity or whatever turned around to smack you in the face is not fun. And unless you've been there (and I don't mean this directly at you, Terie, at all) I think it's something you maybe can't quite understand.

Did it affect my sales? I doubt it. Hell, I remember the writer--I won't mention her name but you probably know who I mean--who actually blogged about how she was going to use the name of someone who gave her a bad review for an HIV+ crack whore character in a future book, and it was a huge mess, but afaik she's still selling plenty of books. I don't really believe any of the internet messes hurt people's sales; I don't believe they really help them, either. But I do believe it's personally hurtful; I remember checking Twitter one night and literally crying over the cruel shit people were saying about me. It sucks. And if I can keep someone else from going through it I will.

robjvargas said:

Wait. Freedom does not mean immunity from consequences. The people suggesting not to do this are speaking of whether the consequences make the action advisable. Not whether a writer has the right to do it.

Blogging on a hot-button issue (and politics general tends to be so, trust me on that) can suddenly make your blog about that, not about you and/or your writing.

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Bolding mine. That, so much. I blogged several years ago about why I don't blog about politics, and that was one of my main reasons. Not because I worry it would hurt sales; for every one I lost I'd probably gain one elsewhere. But I do not want the buying of my books to turn into a political act.

And frankly, reading the political opinions of others tends to bore me. When I go on a writer's blog and see it's all about politics I'm turned off, even if I agree (unless of course it's someone who writes non-fiction about politics). Because to be honest, I expect a writer to be a bit more imaginative in the subjects they cover and the things they say, rather than just falling back on politics.

Richard White said:

Politics and religion will not appear on my blog(s).

Why?

Because, even though I may have passionate beliefs about certain topics, they are not topics I would discuss in the workplace nor in general public.

I consider my writing blog part of my writing workspace.

I have dropped author's blogs because I really don't give a crap about their political or religious beliefs (one side or the other, it doesn't matter).

I have dropped authors because they were complete arseholes at conventions or on-line. I feel no obligation to support them with my money nor my time.

I'm not adverse to a reasoned discussion of topics when there is a belief that both sides of the argument will be at least politely considered, even if the ultimate decision is that "O.K., I don't agree with you, but I respect your right to be wrong. *wink*" I also believe there are topics that should be discussed, but see, I said, discussed. Not, "If you don't believe like me you're a (fill in the insult of the day here)" - and that goes for people on both sides of the spectrum. Rudeness and intolerance is not confined to only one side of any issue.

However, I have yet to see a political or a religious topic that didn't degenerate rapidly. Therefore I will not engage in them in a business setting, nor will I allow my blog(s) to be used to "score points".

Maybe it's a generational thing. Maybe it's a where I was brought up thing.

Don't really care, it's who I am.

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Also, this.

The main reason I don't blog about politics or religion is because I want everyone to be comfortable visiting my blog. I want everyone to feel accepted and welcome. Period. In my mind my blog is like a dinner party and I don't know who might show up, but as the hostess it's my job to make sure everyone feels like they belong there and has a good time, whether they love Al Franken or Rush Limbaugh, whether they're devout Christians or fervent atheists.

They're my readers. I don't care how they vote. I care that they enjoy themselves reading what I write, whether it's a novel or a blog post or a tweet.


Others are of course free to write whatever they like. But I know more than one author who's been blindsided like I was, and none of them enjoyed the experience, and I don't think it's wrong of me to share that experience and tell people to keep it in mind.