The current dramatic events surrounding writing; paid reviews, sock puppets, defaming, bullying, utter drama. A mouthful. I thought to keep myself out of it. I thought that would be best for me and maybe it is, but being me I can't help making a tiny blog post about it. (Hey, at least the title is long.)
I read Barry Eisler latest post "And Why Beholdest Thou The Mote In Thy Brother's Eye...?" on his
blog and I agree with him. He gave his reservations about putting his signature in support of
No Sock Puppets Here Please ("NSPHP") and he eventually reluctantly did put his signature out there in support. Reading his reservations I asked myself why he did so, had I similar reservations (and actually I do)I wouldn't have supported them by putting my sig down. I was pleasantly surprised when later on he asked them to remove his signature.
I respect people that are willing to admit they made a mistake and do something about it. In our world we have too many that won't ever admit they were wrong and some who even when they finally reluctantly do admit that they were wrong, they will do nothing to fix it. They'll go headlong into their next mistake which they will vehemently defend against all naysayers. (Look at politicians)
We as humans quickly forget to think critically once we feel someone wronged us. We get swept by the emotions and without a second thought lapse out in righteous anger at those we feel wronged us. I see this happen often, offline and online, while if we took a few steps back and thought about the situation instead of busting the door open and start shooting, we would often be able to come to the conclusion that yes it is bad, but it's not the end of the world.
I now see writers and readers fall into a sense of paranoia, second guessing everything and being quick in accusing others of perceived transgressions. It's like a tornado indiscriminately sucking everything in and tearing it to shreds. I might be wrong, I do hope I'm wrong and the current drama surrounding writing and publishing will go away with only a whiff, but I fear it won't and many innocents will be burned while those that really did wrong will only get a light slap on the fingers.
I know that I for myself will try to stay out of this discussions and just keep doing what I love doing and that is writing. I've too many stories that need to be put on paper to worry about what's going. (And still I do worry because I guess I care.)
