What I'm doing on Substack and why, Part 2

(This article is Part-2 in a series. For Part-1, click here.)

Yes, I do yell on the page. I do make accusations. I certainly attack. And I present evidence for conclusions, when I’m writing those kinds of pieces.

But I also write fiction, satire. Plenty of it. And that’s because I’m a writer and I’ve read writers all my life and I know what has moved me. I know how a work of fiction can revolutionize reality. Mine.

And I want that reaction from other people. From people who read my work. I don’t try to cater to lowest common denominator. I don’t try to think of the reader as barely literate. I don’t try to appeal to the masses, whatever that means.

I don’t and won’t water down my own writing to fit a prescription. That would be unthinkable.

I’m writing to make an impact at higher level, not a lower one.

Writers gave me a doorway into a whole new life when I was young. They showed me worlds I had never dreamed of. They exposed this world and opened my eyes. I took my cue from them.

Eventually, I realized that, to be a writer, you have to give it your all. You can’t hold back. You can’t partially commit and then take back your commitment. You have to keep traveling along that road and do MORE, not LESS. You have to proliferate, not shrink.

If you go all in, then when you make an impact with a reader, it’s real. It mean something. It’s not fake. It’s not superficial.

Frequently these days, when I see something that boggles me, I think of satire and fiction as the response. Because those outlets are necessary for me to override the insanity of what I just saw. They give me the best chance to demonstrate how grotesque things are becoming.

Satire and fiction can jolt the mind of the reader in ways nothing else can.

They turn reality, which is already upside down, upside down again. They shock the mind, not to downgrade it, but to energize it.

They put a monkey wrench into the machinery of unconscious habit.

No writer I’ve ever admired has said, “In this time, in this crisis, I have to cut myself off from parts of myself, from parts of my talent, to deliver the short form, the summary, the bare data.”

Every period of time is a crisis. Every era is crucial. And every writer has to shove all his chips to the middle of the table.

If he doesn’t, he’s heading into a blind alley.

So that’s why I write satire and fiction. They aren’t a vacation. They’re the main event.

And let’s not forget, regardless of how much work is involved in putting words on the page every day, the writer has to find joy in what he does. If he doesn’t, if he can’t, he’s done. He’s removing himself from the equation. He’s subtracting the great adventure that is writing.

Instead, he’s beating himself on the head with a hammer, trying to limit his imagination. Which can go anywhere, illuminate any darkness, wake up any dead space.

I’m going with imagination. I made the move a long time ago. I’m still making that move.

-- Jon Rappoport

FURTHER READING:

“For writers and people on the verge of being writers” (click here)