People you thought you knew become unrecognizable and differences you may have just talked through or accepted any other given Sunday, become huge gaping canyons of animosity when tossed into the context of politics.
Now, I like to think of my present and future relationships with my readers to be a friendly, non-alienating one. Seeing people of different opinion and place in life participating and enjoying my world is a thrill. I want to keep a atmosphere that nurtures that. But at the same time I am no fan of apologizing for who I am or what I believe.
How do I stay true to me and yet keep all of you? To all those conscientious fiction writers who manage a writing blog, how do you find the balance between the writing world and your personal beliefs? Do you nix all discussions of politics from your realm? Do you stay neutral when the "politics" hits the fan? Does having a political opinions hurt a writers fledgling career?
I know this is a personal choice. I guess I was just wondering if this was ever a dilemma for any of you out in ink and keyboard land?
And thank you to Alex J. Cavanaugh for thinking up this pretty cool support group/ blog hop!
HI Nicole, New follower here via the IWSG, #99! Yeah, I'm with you. Nothing worse than talking politics or religion with a friend. Our disparities become points of contention. So I just don't talk politics or religion (much) with friends. I don't hold their beliefs against them and hope they give me the same courtesy. It's part of what makes the US so great, even now. We can all be different yet live peacefully. We can't let those who would use our differences to divide us. We are all basically the same with similar needs, desires, and dreams. Luckily, we are able to express those if we choose. But sometimes, it's better to keep it to ourselves and retain our friendships.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to IWSG. :) Eww, I steer clear of politics, religion and other sensitive subjects with all of my writing peoples. Just my opinion. Now that I think of it, I don't even voice my thoughts at my in-laws house. :/ Life is much simpler that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Nicole and welcome to IWSG on behalf of Alex today from his co-host! I am Australian, so although the US election for President does concern me, I am not as heavily involved. I do try to stay neutral and avoid all emotional outbursts while interacting in the blogging world.
ReplyDeleteCarolynBrown-Books
Welcome to IWSG! This group is excellent, you'll meet new folks and get a bunch of support.
ReplyDeleteI have many personal opinions but usually don't share them on my blog. I share them with family most of the time. But my writing opinions, I share them within this great writing community and they love it.
Don't be afraid to speak out! We all have a voice and can get known! That's why we have this super savvy internet nowadays! :)
I don't think that differing political views should be a reason for alienation or estrangement, but, considering the personal importance that people attach to their ideological convictions, the impinging of opposite views usually permeates the realm of personal relationships.
ReplyDeleteThere are two answers:
1. If a person is as extreme as to disassociate himself from you for simply seeing things differently, even if your view is fundamentally wrong, he's possibly dangerous and not a good human to be around anyway.
2. Avoid the discussion of infuriating, disagreeable points.
Sharing opinions on blogs has gotten me in more trouble than I care to remember. I (try) to avoid the hot topics like politics, religion and sexuality. But like you said how do you stay true to yourself and not alienate a portion of readership? I'm looking for that balance.
ReplyDeleteLex