The Elephant in the Writing Room

Should political and social upheaval affect your writing?

Image: Pexels/Harvey Sapir

Often when something bothers me, writing about it serves as a salve. These days, not so much.

Which has me thinking about how each of us, as writers, ought to approach our craft during a time of such tremendous political and social upheaval. Now more than ever, the world needs dedicated, fearless journalists and other writers to hold politicians and other powerful people accountable. The need is acute, particularly given all the layoffs in media in recent years and the shuttering of so many newspapers that were on the accountability front lines.

So this is the elephant in the writing room: Should you be writing about what the current administration is doing? Should you wield your pen against power and corruption and politics you deem unhealthy or dangerous?

If you’re an investigative journalist or a writer whose beat has always involved politics, government and the culture ares, the answer is a simple yep.

But if you are some other type of writer, I won’t pretend to have the answer for you. There are, however, some logical ways to approach the questions that can help us each find our own answer. I recently shared my thoughts with the writers whose work I edit, and in this post I offer up an expanded version. These are thoughts on how I’m approaching things, as a writer, editor and publisher.

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As a writer, and as a human just trying to get by lately, I’m trying to avoid excess immersion in the news and social media regarding things about which I have no personal control and about which I don’t have particular writing expertise. I’m not ignoring the realities, but I am trying to live my life, too, to stay sane and strong so I can be a good husband and father, and hopefully a helpful writer, editor and mentor.

It’s not easy. I want to be useful. I want to do the right things.

As a journalist, I’m trained to wade into choppy waters whenever they relate to the topics I write about. The bigger the storm, the deeper I’d wade—to a degree. I have never been an investigative journalist, the sort of talented individual who has the time, expertise and training to scuba dive into the depths of a thorny issue. I’ve dipped my toe into hard-hitting, controversial pieces, but my comfort zone has always been explaining cool science.

Likewise, I encourage you to think similarly about what sort of writer you are. What are your strengths and weaknesses, your areas of expertise, the topics that you are passionate about, and the degree to which you are comfortable putting your thoughts out there for all to see?

There is no one-size-fits-all answers. But we’d all be wise to think deeply about it, and develop an approach that we can lean on when we’re unsure if we’re doing right by our craft. The worst plan is no plan.

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I’m a health and science writer and editor, but in the past I’ve been a general-assignment news reporter, and I’ve edited tech and biz publications. So I believe the following anecdotes and advice are relevant no matter if you write about tech, sports, business, cooking or whatever.

There’ve been times when my daily reporting and writing flooded me with overwhelming emotions. During Covid, I embraced my role as a daily (read: 24/7) health and science journalist. And after a year or so, I burned out, having dived perhaps deeper into the political aspects of the pandemic than my temperament was prepared for, certainly beyond what, for me, was enjoyable. And I do like to enjoy my writing.

I’m no longer a daily news journalist. So I’ve tried to resist my knee-jerk reactions to current events and be more thoughtful about my role as a pretired writer of features and editor of health and wellness stories—a post-career career that I do mostly for the joy of it, not with any illusions about changing the world (or at least not with too many illusions).

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As a publisher, I’ve thought a lot about my responsibility to writers and readers. My publication, Wise & Well, has never sought to cover breaking news nor politics, though cultural and societal trends and challenges sometimes hover around the edges of our stories, and sometimes are at the heart of them.

Which is all a bit vague. So to bring some definition to what we do, I’m leaning harder than ever into our well-established mission:

Science-backed insights into health, wellness and wisdom, to help you make tomorrow a little better than today.

There’s a lot of latitude there for our writers to write about politics and culture and the running of the government and the effects on health and wellness — if and when we can help people make a reader’s tomorrow a little better. But as I explained to the writers, we need some buoys to sail between. I'm not eager, I told them, to wade into stories that only bemoan the governmental and societal changes. There are other media outlets and other reporters and writers (working with a different set of buoys) better positioned to tackle those pieces.

Here’s a takeaway: It’s vital to recognize, as a writer or as a publication, where your strengths are, how you can make the most difference with a given investment of time and energy, and what is outside your purview. Where and how do you sail? Do you stick to certain channels, or are you comfortable and skilled in open water?

For our little publication, what we can and should do, I told my writers, is help people understand political and governmental changes if and when there’s something the readers can do to prepare for or navigate those changes, and when the writer has the expertise to bring something fresh and helpful to the coverage.

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The other day I ran across some fresh news on bird flu, along with a story addressing whether it’s safe to eat eggs. I had a serious Covid flashback.

It was almost exactly five years ago—Feb. 25, 2020—that I wrote my first FAQ about Covid, as the situation had begun to spiral beyond “just another infectious disease” and the US administration at the time was not taking the outbreaks as seriously as scientists called for.

So I thought about my personal buoys, and the publication’s mission, and I made a decision.

I’m a curious person. And being curious about the increasingly dire developments around bird flu, and the increasing potential health problem, it didn’t take me 5 minutes to generate a dozen questions that I had. Then I jumped in and researched it all. And I employed a time-tested tactic — the FAQ — for breaking down complex topics:

• Bird Flu FAQ: How Do People Catch It? Is it Deadly? Are Eggs Safe to Eat?

I mention this to you because it’s an example of how we can tackle a topic that’s squarely in our writing purview but that’s laced with political undertones and overtones; we can mention those facets of the complex situation, but not get lost in them (you can see how I handled politics in the intro; and if you’re not a Medium member, you can use this “friend link” to bypass the paywall).

The story is, first and foremost, a health story, not by any stretch a political investigation. It’s a reader service—something to help people stay informed and safe in the face of an emerging health threat. But the political backdrop is highly pertinent, context that it would be irresponsible not to mention.

(Bonus tip: This also an example of how stories can create themselves if you just start asking yourself questions about something that interests you.)

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So yeah, even if we don’t normally write about politics, we cannot and should not categorically avoid political or governmental issues when they are relevant to our stories.

And if you’re inclined to devote your mighty pen entirely to analysis of politics and culture, and you’re good at it, fantastic. We need you out there on the front lines, speaking truth to power and working to change minds and change the world.

How all this might help you figure out your writing strategy, I can’t predict. But it is the elephant in the writing room, so I wanted to at least point out the importance of acknowledging it, pondering it thoughtfully, and proceeding in whatever way is best for our own careers, the readers we serve, the world at large, and our sanity.

Stay safe, and write on—about whatever the hell you wish.

Cheers,
Rob