Recently, the author of Irregular Webcomic wrote a very interesting blog post about including politics within his work. He explained that he made a conscious effort not to include anything of that kind because he wanted his work to have a universal appeal and, also, because he didn’t want his work to become ‘preachy’. He explained that he often felt extremely guilty about it because he felt he should be ‘fighting to change the world’ or something along those lines. Despite the fact that I like to make my political beliefs clear in my work, it’s a feeling I completely relate to. While I do promote my views, I often wonder whether or not I’m doing enough. Perhaps every writer feels that way, no matter how much or how little they do for their cause?
In the end, I don’t think that it’s something writers should worry about. You can have a masterpiece which really pushes societal expectations, or you can have one which does nothing to comment on politics. Though, having said that, when we look to the past we find that it is the progressive pieces, the one which challenged their societies, which are the ones which have remained popular. But I’m not sure whether this is because the author is being very progressive, or because the novel is doing something new (“A woman doing X? What an interesting story idea!” for example). Perhaps a progressive attitude is more likely to produce original artworks? I’m not sure. But, either way, I don’t think writing needs to have something to say about our world in order to be of value.
In the end, I don’t think that it’s something writers should worry about. You can have a masterpiece which really pushes societal expectations, or you can have one which does nothing to comment on politics. Though, having said that, when we look to the past we find that it is the progressive pieces, the one which challenged their societies, which are the ones which have remained popular. But I’m not sure whether this is because the author is being very progressive, or because the novel is doing something new (“A woman doing X? What an interesting story idea!” for example). Perhaps a progressive attitude is more likely to produce original artworks? I’m not sure. But, either way, I don’t think writing needs to have something to say about our world in order to be of value.
(Don’t miss today’s Finger Puppet Show!)
