Accountability

There is a lot of writing advice on how to write, how to market, suggestions for what to write and how to follow trends, but there is a dearth of information on writing accountability. I'm not talking about fact checking for a nonfiction piece, or whether or not you should smear your sibling's reputation in your memoir. I'm not referring to creating the good habit of writing each day either. I'm talking about being accountable for what a fiction writer serves up for readers and how it might influence, change, or desensitize them.

I noticed from a young age that there are many calibers of fiction writing. Not just the quality of good prose, but the quality of subject and how it is treated. For many years I've witnessed online debates among writers about pushing envelopes to see how much they could get away with including certain topics, scenarios, and even words in their writing. The flow of this river seems to always want to pick up as much dirty debris off the banks as it can and gather energy over the rapids to make it become the new normal. There's the age-old conundrum of art reflecting society and society reflecting the art it consumes. Kind of a chicken before the egg or egg before the chicken scenario.

I'm not here to profess an answer, but I am a firm believer that you are what you consume - whether it's food, medicine, music, movies, books, news, etc. That, of course, implies that consumers should be responsible for their choices, and they should. But what if all a consumer was offered was junk food? Or the only medicine they could afford had six horrible side effects? It's the same with our media consumption. If all that is being put out is dark, violent, sexual, rude, biased, mean, promotes abuse, or is of one type of ideology, then what are consumers to do? It goes beyond trends. If this art we produce is what we feel society is like, aren't we also promoting that type of society?

I've seen society's moral compass rapidly slide into the trash bin. I find it highly disturbing, and as a consumer, it has greatly limited my options for consumption. I used to get excited to try out new media, and now I approach it all warily, ready to close the book, switch channels, or turn off the streaming service as soon as something horrible pops up. I don't care how compelling the story is. I'm sick of the vulgarity, darkness, violence, and sexual unreality. 

Writing is one of the oldest influencer arts there is. Writing should reflect life, but I dare to ask, why are we so focused on reflecting the worst of us rather than the best of us? What is with this drive to create the baddest, darkest, most gritty version of a story in order to feed the consumer? True, there are stories that creep into inspirational when a character travels through a dark world and comes out victorious, but is it really inspirational when so much mud and filth has to smack the reader along the way? 

I know when I was a teenager there was much eye-rolling going on over stories about perfect people. Perhaps the fall into the mire was a result of defying those norms. It is possible to balance these. Writers make choices over what to focus on in their writing. So even if the MC is going through a gritty world, do we have to spell out every detail of that world? Do we have to make the MC make subpar choices because it's now the norm in society? Where are the MCs who defy the norm by having higher standards? Where are the powerful meek characters? You know, the ones with great discipline, who don't stoop to roll in the mud with their counterparts because they know better? Meek characters aren't arrogant, or revengeful, or "in your face" (which is something the modern teen has so few role models for). Where are the noble characters who have a sense of duty and sacrifice? Where are the loving characters who show respect for the person they love by not undressing them but by serving them and being there for them? 

There is no publishing or government agency (at least not in the USA) that sets a bar for accountability of this kind. I'm not saying there should be. I do say that whatever we write, we are accountable for to society at large. Once you write and publish something, it's out there, and there's really no going back. Your words are powerful, and they will influence the thoughts of someone else. Thoughts lead to actions and expectations. If you're adding the worst and most profane vocabulary to your stories, those words will stick in readers' minds. Words like that have become more common now because they became more common in the media consumed by people. We creators helped in a large part to make it more acceptable. If you're illustrating through words scenes of passion or abuse, then those images will be in your readers' minds. And some readers are so impressionable that coming across something like that distresses them, and they can't get those images out of their heads. If you're choosing to take your readers through one violent action after another, they will become inured to that kind of horrible behavior. That doesn't always translate into action on their part (because the reader has the power of choice and accountability too), but you influenced them. If your aim is to shock, bend the rules, or push boundaries, you are accountable for the effect on reader's minds. It's lying to yourself to say that readers know what they are getting into, because there is no regulation on books and their contents to prewarn them.

To desensitize means to expose yourself or others to something so often that it no longer disturbs, jumps out at you/them, or is noticeable to you/them. The point I want to make, is that the person was sensitive to that certain thing originally. If you think of a child, pure and wholesome, and then life and the influencers around that child create a level of environment that either keeps those sensitive guardrails intact or tears them down. Why do we think that becoming a teenager and then an adult means we have to weaken ourselves by partaking of horrible or harmful things? Why is that a rite of passage? I'm glad that a person can choose to re-sensitize and step back from the sheer cliffs of "adult" material. The walk up the mountain of life really is nicer when you aren't on the edge or constantly stumbling down never-ending pathways of addiction to "adult" content. Things of an "adult" nature are designed to addict, and content creators always have the challenge of coming up with worse material to one-up the industry. It's a death spiral for one's moral compass and grip on reality.

I know, this is a shot in the dark, an echo chamber against the powerful new norm. I miss the days when there were more choices for consumers out there. When I could pick up a book even in the MG or YA section of the library, open and read it without having my inner guard up for the moment the story violates my sensitivity level. I haven't been to a movie in a very long time, and the last handful I went to were rather subpar kids' films. I've been re-reading the books I've bought rather than take a gamble on something new for a couple of years. And I'm kind of tired of watching the same older shows and movies because new content on TV turns me off from the preview. A few things have passed muster, but not much. If this narrowing of my options has taught me anything, it's that I need to be accountable for what I create and dish up to consumers. Am I wallowing in the dirt of the worst realities or am I showing paths to inspire better behavior, better societies, better choices, and better outcomes? Good can be a reality too, things that are light, clean, bright, wholesome, and focused more on moral character than outrageous attitude. I know it can, because I've lived with people who are wholesome - not perfect or without flaw - but who try to emulate the best possibilities and are encouraging. Hope thrives among them, self-sacrifice, patience, love, virtue, kindness, determination, and respect. 

Art doesn't reflect the life I know. The chasm between them is impossible to ignore. 

It's your choice as a writer, as a consumer. I'll not deny you that. But regardless of choice, there is accountability of one type or another. We can help to lift or drag down our society. What kind of world do you want to live in?

The Joys of Prewriting

 I think my favorite stage of the writing process is prewriting, or brainstorming, if you will. The most word-vomitty part of the process, where I jot down any and all ideas, make diagrams, sketches, first come up with plots and subplots, and characters start to materialize. Everyone's process is different, and I've found that for me, every story is different in how I approach it. 

My chief rule is that the story idea needs to be complete. Whether its a two paragraph summary with a beginning, middle, and ending laid out, or a series of random notes where I take a character or plot and follow it through. Seldom do all of these first ideas make a final cut, but it sure is fun coming up with them. 

Everything is written down. I keep notebooks and usually do it by hand, although some stories have digital files of random notes for their inceptions. It's in this process where I really get a feel for whether the idea will go anywhere, if it's just a shadowy copy of another story, and my enthusiasm level for it. All of these factor in whether there will be a first draft or not. If a story idea is a shadowy copy of another, it usually means I need to revisit the original story and start again from another angle or incorporate my new ideas into it. 

Have you ever noticed a common theme in the collected works of an author? Have you noticed a common theme in your own? Does that same theme reflect in your choice of books to read by other people? It's fascinating to recognize that driving factor - our ultimate soap box issue, pivotal experience, or driving need. In my prewriting stage, it's easiest to see my pet themes, and also easiest to remedy the tendency to be redundant in how the story addresses them compared to my other stories.

The prewriting stage is a stage for mistakes, analysis, silliness, initial research, throwing crazy ideas at a wall and hoping they stick. It's not for the eyes of anyone else. It's the most freedom in writing, I believe, because there are no editors, critics, or checklists. My stories usually start with a situation and develop from there. I don't typically have much luck if I start from a solitary character. That character may be interesting, charismatic, or have something special about them, but without a situation or plot there's not usually a point in developing a story around them. Maybe other writers are different, and that's okay. I find that if I have a situation or plot in mind then the characters will come later. There is no story without a plot, only a state of being. 

I've blogged before about world-building - which is my most intensive part of prewriting, writing, and editing. Character development usually comes out of the plot phase when I ask questions like: what type of character would carry this plot? What type of character would have the most growth and conflict in this plot? What other characters would drive the plot or be good antagonists or helpers? Subplots emerge from this part of the prewriting process. Then comes the fun part of intertwining them. 

Prewriting isn't limited to the first phase of my writing process. Often before tackling a scene I do a session of prewriting, revisiting my original idea and then playing with it. This helps me get a better feel for how well this will fit with what previous scenes have done while making sure the new scene is headed in the right direction and focusing on what will move the plot and characters forward. Often a lot of changes happen at this point, and it becomes easier to dig deeper into the psyche of the characters. Over time, this method of prewriting before a scene has saved me from extensive edits later.

The joy comes from the act of mental creation, from the freedom of inhibition, and the discipline of getting the story down in a physical form. For many a story that won't make it to novel form, it's the journey of prewriting that makes me not regret my time on it. 

Prewriting Ideas:

1. Have a setting in mind and draw up a list of what if's to get a plot forming.

2. See how quickly you can write down/type all the ideas, thoughts, and impressions that come to your mind in regards to a plot, character, or setting.

3. Grab one aspect of your initial thoughts, like a character, and go crazy with what ifs and ideas on how you can develop it.

4. Come up with a list of rules or laws and then brainstorm conflicts or situations where those rules/laws will make life difficult for your characters.

5. Follow one character's basic arc from beginning to end by writing down one event or choice they make after another.

6. Pull something from your own experience and find a way to retell it or incorporate it into your story.

7. Look at a chain of events you've come up with and reverse one link in an entirely new direction. Then replace/edit the subsequent events with the consequences. See if you can still reach your main climax and resolution. Or - did you just come up with something better?

8. Write down a list of ideas for a plot sequence, then choose your last one as the way to go.

9. Create character profiles complete with physical details, backstory facts, motivations and desires, and capabilities or roles in the story.

10. Use a notebook as a writing diary. As you write for the day, take moments to record your experience in the process, jot down brainstorming ideas, lecture/encourage yourself, or hold a conversation or interview between yourself and one of your characters.

What do you do for prewriting? Do you like this stage of the process? Do you have any interesting or quirky suggestions for someone who might be new to prewriting?