If you use auto-tune, you can’t call yourself a singer; Elvis, The Beatles, The Bangles, Heart, and Pat Benatar did not use auto-tune. If you use AI to create stunning pictures, you can’t call yourself an artist; Rembrandt and Picasso had only their art supplies and their talent. If you use AI to doctor your photographs, you can’t can’t call yourself a photographer. Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson had only their cameras. If you use AI in your so-called professional writing, you aren’t a writer. As a novelist myself, I shall never use AI in any way in the creation of my works. And here’s something else to ponder: If your dream is to write screenplays or songs, even poetry, AI may become your stumbling block. Members of the writing guild beware. If they can use AI to write stories they won’t have to pay a writer. While AI has many useful applications, if we as artists don’t remain vigilant, content creators with genuine talent just may find themselves outside looking in. I am opposed to the use of AI in art of any kind.
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Social commentary vs. political commentary. Why do so many people confuse the two, or believe they are one and the same? As a writer of fiction who likes adding social commentary to add a bit of flavor to the story, or use it in subtle ways to support the theme of what I’m writing about, I thought I’d tackle the subject in a mini-blog.
Recently, I was on a social media fan page where the page owner and administrator posted that they didn’t want real world politics on the page, that it was a page intended to celebrate the franchise. In this case, it was a Star Trek page; I’ve seen similar things happen on other pages. Someone would post something and members would bring real world politics into the conversation. Many people find that annoying, including myself, which is why I don’t permit real world politics in any group or page I manage. So, I don’t blame the page owner for doing so. There was immediate backlash with people saying Star Trek was and still is political in nature. That brought up a question in my mind. Do people equate political commentary with social commentary? If so, why?
Political commentary involves politics, government policies, and matters pertaining to government; social commentary involves things like poverty, class struggle, racism, equality, equal justice, war, etc…in other words, human interest stories or social commentary. Thus, those who argue that Star Trek “was always about politics” I can confidently say they are wrong; Star Trek is about social issues that pertain to everyone regardless of political affiliation, race, creed, or social status. That is the definition of social commentary.
Since this mini-blog turned out shorter than I anticipated, I’d like to take a moment to say that if you are a writer, and want to add social commentary to your work, make the commentary come through by way of your characters’ words, actions, and situations, and avoid long winded speeches by a character and / or exposition narratives. Nobody likes to be preached to. If somebody wants to hear a sermon, they’ll go to church. I find that preachiness in a lot of books and in particular, TV and movies, and it annoys me no end. You’ll go further by putting your characters in situations and action where empathy for said character will happen spontaneously without the sermon. Whether you are a character driven writer, a plot / action driven writer, or a combination of both, like myself, subtlety gets better results than heavy handedness. I can’t tell you how many books and movies I never finished reading / viewing because I felt I was being preached to rather than entertained. You’re not going to get any kind of message across without the entertainment. Note: I am not a certified teacher of writing; I’m just a fellow writer passing along some advice. What you do with it is your own business.
That’s all I have today. And, as always, thank you for reading. I welcome you to comment below, give this piece a like, or subscribe to my blog.
Best wishes and may peace be with you.
Ray
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Ray Rogers, Novelist 