Should Authors Just Shut Up and Write?

Okay, back to books and fiction and
the publishing industry. You know, the stuff that frustrates me, but in a good
way. Today author Christopher Moore mentioned on Facebook that he’d posted political comments
that seemed to anger folks. When he announced said discontent on Twitter, he says
he realized that some readers expected him to voice no opinion. “Just give us
another book,” one Twitter follower told him.



Does anyone else find this insulting? Moore is a rather outspoken
author. He likes to sprinkle f-bombs liberally in his writing and he’s got more than a pinch
of snark in his tweets and Facebook posts. But he’s fun about it. Most of his
tweets and Facebook commentary is humorous and sarcastic, but it’s also
intelligent. What’s not to love about that? Even if you don’t like his books, I
think that his honesty and realism is refreshing. I started reading his books
because of his attitude. (A friend retweeted his tweets and I became an instant
fan. Then I bought his books.)



After finding out that his opinion wasn’t welcomed by some readers, Moore
had this to say:

“Do people actually think that you can become an artist by not having a
point of view? Do you actually think that being ambivalent is the way you get
good at comedy? A lot of writers don't talk about their political side, because
they think it will hurt their readership, and I get that. I'm sorry it comes to
that, but I get it. You have to make a living first, but trust me, even your most
beloved young adult author of the most friendly stories has a point of view or
they wouldn't be able to do what they do. (Also, if we were the kind of people
who responded well to being told what to do, we wouldn't be doing this either.)”

We’ve discussed before how authors shouldn’t pretend to be something we
aren’t. This is an interesting topic, because there are many readers and writer
that disagree. Many believe an opinion is dangerous, and “taking sides” on an
issue is going to hurt sales. But why would you want readers that don’t accept
your views on something? Surely you don’t think they’ll enjoy your work if they
can’t at least relate to your opinions. We should never try to please everyone
because eventually that act gets too exhausting to maintain. Yes, politics is a
sensitive issue, especially for Americans, but should someone refrain from discussing
issues that are important to them simply because they have a public image to “maintain?”



Can you imagine never voicing your thoughts or feelings to your readers
because you’re afraid someone won’t buy your books? A by-product of writing (if
you’re doing the research you should be doing) is that authors have a vast
store of knowledge, which Moore pointed out. How can you know about so many
subjects and not discuss them? How can you not form an opinion?



I don’t see anything wrong with a public figure, be they author, actor
or whatever, voicing an opinion. In fact, I respect them more for it, even if I
don’t particularly like their views. At least they have views. At least they
think about something beyond image and sales.



Of course, my opinions and my humor have gotten me into hot water
before, so perhaps I’m wrong. What do you think? Are you willing to remain
silent about your opinions, never pick sides and such, to ensure your books
sell?



If you want to check Moore out, he’s on Twitter of course, but
he’ll be tweeting his political opinions under the Twitter name, @NOX10US.