An important thread about personal growth

The Writing Life
#1

I thought this was profound:

Young people think being “bad” or doing bad things or being emotionally destructive (like Bellow and Mailer) gives you material. In fact, the opposite is true. The more you grow as a person, the more bad past selves you can discard and use as dynamic material.

Note: the thread concerns itself with famous male writers being horny, but the story that motivated it, if you start googling, about Roth’s biographer, is much more disturbing. Content warning child abuse / grooming / sexual violence.

3 Likes
#2

I just found out he taught one of my friends in school.

1 Like
#3

Omg! Crazy world we live in. I’m going to have to look into the background of this more to have a full grasp of the gravity, but it is profound about not having to be bad for material. Like method actors picking up a drug habit to portray someone with a drug habit is ludicrous, but it sadly does happen. Folks with misguided attempts at performing authentically.

1 Like
#4

The tweet appears to be gone now. I read it a couple of days ago, so I’m replying on memory. It reminds me of the ‘write what you know’ advice that too easily gets twisted into a form of gatekeeping by people who wish to exercise a certain superiority over others. This kind of method writing, so to speak, also sets a standard for what an author is, or should be willing to become, that seems designed to exclude. I’m pretty sure it wins toxic masculinity bingo.

3 Likes