I Rant, I Instigate—I Write

Recently, several writing acquaintances said they had grown weary of political posts or statements on Facebook and other social media. They really only wanted writing-related information or posts.

Years ago I thought about this issue. My first impulse was to think that I should keep my opinions to myself as I didn’t want to offend anyone and maybe dissuade them from trying out my books. However, I remembered several articles that discussed social media for writers and they typically said you use them to let readers know about you, not just to promote your writing. In effect, you are promoting your writing by letting people see who you are as a person most articles stated.

So my thinking expanded and I decided that includes not just pictures of my cat or living room, but also my thoughts on issues. In much of my writing I point out superficiality and stereotypes and how that can be detrimental (or wrong). In other words, don’t judge a person on how he looks.

Well, one of the best ways to let people know about you would be to let them know your beliefs on issues. That gives insight into the way a person thinks and acts. So I decided to do just that. If I were to offend someone and so they decided against buying one of my books, so be it. If I lose a few cents, that’s better than not standing for what I believe.

Keep in mind that I don’t have a pure author page on Facebook or Twitter, but do have individual book pages (Facebook). On those, I leave issues out.

Souls on Fire

Sex and the American Male

Wings of Honor

Tax Break

Writing Trash and Hunting Buffalo

However, on my Twitter and personal Facebook page, well, it’s no holds barred.

Jay’s Facebook

Twitter

The more I thought about this topic though, the more I believed that as a writer, I have an obligation to sound off. It’s a writer’s responsibility to put ideas out there.  As a super hero, that would be a writer’s ability—to express ideas, thoughts and concepts. Whether it is writing a fact-based news article about murder by American police officers; or writing a book about a man who fights for his ideals against Franco’s fascists (Hemingway); writers put out ideas about important issues.

Many times when talking to students I advised at The University of Texas, I’d warn them about getting their degrees. Warn them that they now faced danger because they were the types that dictators and authoritarian rulers feared and hated. I said intellectuals (and that includes writers) were the first up against a wall when those miscreants took over.

That’s why we see people like Donald Trump rant and rail about news reporters who dare to say something he doesn’t approve of that day. Worse, we see journalists in Putin’s Russia assassinated on the street, or a writer sliced and diced by MBS of Saudi Arabia.

Yet writers persist. They continue to write articles about drug lords in Mexico, ruthless leaders in the Philippines or white supremacists in the United States. They write short stories about greedy tycoons (Bazolaa) or books about horrible conditions in the meat packing industry (The Jungle).

Some writers become leaders of nations (Vaclav Havel, Czechoslovakia) others formed resistance movements, such as the White Rose who used writing against the Nazis.  This latter group didn’t get put up against the wall—they had their heads chopped off. So, as I mentioned,  standing up for your beliefs can be dangerous.

But you should.

Whether it’s writing pamphlets advocating for the American independence from Britain or writing for a student paper against the Vietnam war, writers through history have always stood up for what they believed in, for their morals, their ideals.

So the next time you hear another writer complain about your anti-Trump posts on Facebook, just tell him/her that you are following in the footsteps of other great writers through history.  Tell that person it’s time for him/her to step up and do the same.

James Thurber didn't mind sounding off