In short, no.
Personally, I take responsibility for my own decisions and the way I live my life, but I have no interest in trying to push my views onto other people. I would prefer to be proved wrong in an argument and learn something, than stick doggedly to my point of view in the face of evidence to the contrary.
I have no respect for anybody, be they politician, religious leader or author who believes that they not only know how they should live, but they also know how I should live.
When I write, I am trying to create something that is an engaging mixture of art and entertainment, not get on my soapbox.
I believe it is impossible to completely remove myself from things that I create, but I do work hard to not make my creative work about me. I frequently write from viewpoints that are not my own, and try to ensure that any character I create has their own voice, not just an echo of mine.
I believe that for Emily Dickinson, her poetry was her letter to the world. I believe that the social norms of the place and time that she was born into prevented her from speaking plainly to her family and friends about the hypocrisies she observed. I suspect her poetry gave her comfort in a world where she must have felt stifled by social convention.
For John Cheever, I believe that while morals could be drawn from many of his stories, this was not his primary concern. John Cheever depended on the income from his writing in order to feed his family. As such, his main interest was in matching the style of the magazine he worked for and getting paid. Everything else was secondary.
I understand why you wouldn’t respect those who would extend their self governing beliefs to others, but why the lack of respect for those who have purposed their own lives with self regulation whether it be vegetarianism or humanism? Especially when such standpoints are not only beneficial to the individual but society as a whole, or at least non-harmful to anyone else.
ReplyDeleteHi Nathaniel,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that I had a lack of respect for those who hold particular beliefs, and there are some incredible semi-autobiographical novels out there. (e.g. On The Road - Jack Kerouac and Junky - William Burroughs)
It's more of a personal thing for me that if I allow my characters to take on my viewpoints and/or characteristics, then I make it much harder for myself to give those characters a unique voice of their own, as I end up writing them as extensions of myself.
I actually use this as a test when reading back through a piece. If I find that my characters sound like me, it tells me that I'm not working hard enough!