I immediately clicked with the concept of rubber ducking; I think I've done it myself in writing and politics as well; I just don't think I knew that was what it was called. I actually have a rubber duck from an old job; I should use that more often. :)
I was a staff attorney for a corporate law firm; they had rubber ducks with the firm logo that they handed out as incentives, event prizes, things like that. So it didn't require it per se; it was just a fun perk. :)
Really enjoyed reading this Simon. It called to mind something my wife said to me a number of years ago; my mood and mental health wasn't in a great moment and she said "you've not written for a while have you?" She put her finger on it right away. Really connected with this piece Simon.
That's a very good point and an interesting one! I wonder if it's not the reason we write in the first place, but becomes a mechanism for it but we write so much. It's a chicken and the egg type conundrum!
Writing is my main fix these days, but in general I've definitely observed that I'm more twitchy if I haven't got at least one big creative project running. I did a PhD in my twenties, and I think that built 'long term goals are important' deep into my mindset!
I also feel like writing in a serial form since ~2015 has somewhat rewired my brain. Sitting down to write used to be a major struggle, whereas now it's almost flipped the other way around.
I liked your discussion here about competing points of view, “I try not to make all my characters who disagree with me into villains... that would be cheap.”
I think that’s exactly what a lot of mainstream fiction is doing. Great villains are complex and often even sympathetic. Cramming a square political narrative peg into a round fiction hole is the definition of propaganda, and what your left with is both a narrative and a story that are poorly developed.
My whole work revolves around comparing competing narratives in a search for the truth that underlies them. When I write from the point of view of someone who disagrees with my personal biases, I challenge myself to write that story to the satisfaction of a reader who holds those views contrary to my own (I don’t always succeed, but I try).
Two final thoughts:
First, every story that involves the future (even as simple as what will be served for breakfast tomorrow) is a work of fiction until time passes and what actually happens becomes a fact in the past. You don’t need to go 300 years in the future. I find it wonderfully liberating to view every statement from every politician as a work of fiction first.
Second, I share your feelings about “going a little weird” if I don’t write every day.
Fine writing, indeed.
I immediately clicked with the concept of rubber ducking; I think I've done it myself in writing and politics as well; I just don't think I knew that was what it was called. I actually have a rubber duck from an old job; I should use that more often. :)
Time to put that duck on your desk! (I'm also very curious about what that old job was, that required a rubber duck)
I was a staff attorney for a corporate law firm; they had rubber ducks with the firm logo that they handed out as incentives, event prizes, things like that. So it didn't require it per se; it was just a fun perk. :)
I get weird, too, if I don't write. Glad I'm not the only one! I'd never heard about rubber ducking and now it's going in a story :)
Ha, excellent. :)
I like the idea of being a rubber duck 🤣 I also agree that writing is an excellent pressure valve, it has saved my sanity through the years.
🦆
Really enjoyed reading this Simon. It called to mind something my wife said to me a number of years ago; my mood and mental health wasn't in a great moment and she said "you've not written for a while have you?" She put her finger on it right away. Really connected with this piece Simon.
Thanks, Chris. I suspect it's a very common thing. I wonder if it's this that makes us become writers, or whether writing makes it be like this?
That's a very good point and an interesting one! I wonder if it's not the reason we write in the first place, but becomes a mechanism for it but we write so much. It's a chicken and the egg type conundrum!
Perhaps a (rubber) duck and egg conundrum.
Yes!
Writing is my main fix these days, but in general I've definitely observed that I'm more twitchy if I haven't got at least one big creative project running. I did a PhD in my twenties, and I think that built 'long term goals are important' deep into my mindset!
I also feel like writing in a serial form since ~2015 has somewhat rewired my brain. Sitting down to write used to be a major struggle, whereas now it's almost flipped the other way around.
I liked your discussion here about competing points of view, “I try not to make all my characters who disagree with me into villains... that would be cheap.”
I think that’s exactly what a lot of mainstream fiction is doing. Great villains are complex and often even sympathetic. Cramming a square political narrative peg into a round fiction hole is the definition of propaganda, and what your left with is both a narrative and a story that are poorly developed.
My whole work revolves around comparing competing narratives in a search for the truth that underlies them. When I write from the point of view of someone who disagrees with my personal biases, I challenge myself to write that story to the satisfaction of a reader who holds those views contrary to my own (I don’t always succeed, but I try).
Two final thoughts:
First, every story that involves the future (even as simple as what will be served for breakfast tomorrow) is a work of fiction until time passes and what actually happens becomes a fact in the past. You don’t need to go 300 years in the future. I find it wonderfully liberating to view every statement from every politician as a work of fiction first.
Second, I share your feelings about “going a little weird” if I don’t write every day.
Thanks for the post!