What is it that is so powerful about the written word? What is it in the stories we read and love that touches us so deeply? It's not just a deep expression of the author...it also reaches out to us as readers, and connects in a way that sometimes keeps us from feeling so alone out here in this wilderness known as 'life'.

Is this coincidence? I wonder. This week's question is...

=As an author, do you have any particular 'message' that you would like to convey to everyone reading? And as a reader, do you accept the message being given to you?=

Is there some kind of light that you want to shed on a certain aspect of life, or society, or relationships? Do you write with the distinct intention of maybe sparing someone the pain and mistakes that you have had to live through in the past?

Do you read these things and clearly SEE the message being brught to you? If yes, does that turn you off in the way of reading a story, feeling like you're being brainwashed?

The board is open! Whatever you feel, spill it out!

>What is it that is so powerful about the written word?<

I think that the major part of the ‘power’ of the written word is psychological. We grow up and learn to read, from then on much of our information comes from books. Gradually it is instilled in us that the people who can write books know things that we don’t, and we gradually come to trust them.

A while back on a website like this, except it dealt with medical problems, I demonstrated the danger of believing everything that you read. I wrote an article on a mythical herbal remedy which was a panacea or cure-all. To back up its claims I also wrote a number of fake, but glowing testimonials to its wondrous results.

What followed was quite amazing. A large number of readers contacted me desperate to get this remedy! But, even more surprising, not one person called my bluff.

So, authors, be careful not to misuse your powers.

But to this week’s question,

=As an author, do you have any particular 'message' that you would like to convey to everyone reading?=

Not exactly, however I occasionally pound my particular drum. I have a ‘thing’ about inconsiderate people who smoke in non smoking areas. I sometimes make a stab at them. I also have a go at the one with the mobile telephone who insists on shouting into it. I have been known to take a stab at fast food. Yes, I suppose that I have a little list…

=And as a reader, do you accept the message being given to you?=

This depends on where I read it. If I am reading a work of fiction I always remember that it is just an invented story. When I find the author banging his drum I may or may not agree with him.

However if I am reading a work that is supposed to be factual, then I am very critical. Now I will go look up the points in question and verify them before accepting them as facts. People who write books ‘proving’ that UFOs exist, or say ‘prove’ that all the moon shots were fakes, tend to misuse facts and mislead their readers. So it is well worth the effort of checking up on them.

>Do you write with the distinct intention of maybe sparing someone the pain and mistakes that you have had to live through in the past?<

Well, I sometimes try to point out some of the pitfalls in life. But I doubt if I have much success.

Jamie.

1. Sometimes.
2. Usually.
3. No Answer - #2 wasn’t a Yes.
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Ha, you thought you'd get short answers out of me. No way dude.

OK Seriously:
And as a reader, do you accept the message being given to you?
Well it would depend on the message and how it is presented. An author certainly has the right to present a message – I mean after all it’s his words. But I as a reader have my own responsibilities. Those are mostly to myself but partly to the author. If the author has a good idea of his message and articulates it well I can accept it. I don’t always agree but then not everyone’s life experiences are similar. If the author has presented well, I can enjoy a story without fully endorsing the message. However, if I feel the author, in presenting his message shows no regard for the possibility that my experiences bring a different perspective than that, which he is trying to convey I usually move on to a different story or in the extreme a different author.

Do you read these things and clearly SEE the message being brught to you?
I’m usually aware of the difference between surface and deeper content, if there’s deeper content available. It’s not always intended to be there. I’m assuming Com for discussion and as the question implies that a message exists that’s not necessarily the obvious one. Yes.

If yes, does that turn you off in the way of reading a story, feeling like you're being brainwashed?
That would depend on how it’s presented. If it’s an offer presented to me in a way that makes me think then I’m OK with that (whether I agree or not is another matter). If the author is inflexible in presentation, implying that If I don’t agree, then I’m summarily dismissed then naturally the story becomes unenjoyable. The danger here for authors is to go overboard on some message they have to present and do it badly enough that a reader moves on.


I sent this to EggMan brcause of an attack by someone with a thoughtless post but it applies to anyone who tries like you Com and Jaimie.

Words I agree with:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and tears; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."
THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Jaimie, I really enjoyed 'The Stag Party' my latest read. You fooled me with the ending. Sigh...
Com, What can I say I haven't already said. ComRocks - sounds like PopRocks, Is that FOOD. Me tinks so.

Billy you don't need to be hurt to feel loved. I hope that isn't the way you really feel.

I'll admit, there are a lot of times that I try to put my own feelings about a lot of things in my stories. All of them. I write a variety of different stories so that I get a chance to really examine a lot of different emotions, people, situations, and problems, from a variety of different angles. A lot of these things happened to me in one way or another, and I try to put it in story form and see it through someone else's eyes while I'm writing. It really does give you a subjective view of everything when you look at it from the outside.

However, even though I'm always putting my own point of view on things into what I write, I really try hard to not force it down anyone's throat if I can help it. I try to present it as a glimpse at something people may not have ever considered before. It's not a big flashy bilboard with "MESSAGE" on it in neon. It's more like a free pamphlet left by the door...if you want to pick it up, feel free.

So I express what I feel by displaying how I personally see it, hoping that people will be able to understand me, but it's not like I have any big 'agenda' to send out propaganda. I hope it never seems that way. I'm exploring the feelings just like you guys are when I write, and turning them into stories helps to work things out in my head. It's almost like talking to myself at length, but I try really hard not to rant.

Am I turned off by big messages in stories? Yeah...sometimes I am. If they're forced or pushed too hard, it takes away from the story and it starts reading like a textbook or something. So I tend to stray from anything constantly trying to 'guide' me towards a certain belief or point of view. Expressing it is one thing, but attempting to prove it as the only right answer is a bit much for me.

Thats why your stories can be read many times where other authors you tire of after one reading. Your stories can be read at a surface level for the pure enjoyment of it. And again later to see the message just below the surface. It's a subtle message and takes a little thinking. Very cool Dude!