Self-Censorship...

Self-Censorship And The Striving For Authenticity

What a title huh! I'm YonathanJ, author, poet and creative writer. Indulge me in a topic that isn't talked about enough, amidst the seas of writing advice that floods online discourse.

At times I'd like to sit down and embrace my inner artist, and write the most unhinged messed up stuff that passes through my mind. These embarrassing, personal subjects and themes that fascinate me despite how inappropriate they are. As a fellow writer I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Stories of madness, sexual deviance and murderous insanity, of psychotic betrayals and other evil, taboo subjects, to push the limits, explore, ask unsettling questions...

Yet I can't. Well I hesitate. These ideas, these stories, are vile, repulsive, and to create them, to share them would go against my values. Paradoxically I hold in belief that writing isn't just a passion, a hobby or a job, it's art. Art! And art should have no boundaries, no limits, no shame.

Ah yes, shame! The root of self-censorship, this fear and anxiety of what others may think, their judgements. And shame can also come from oneself, a creeping realization..

After all, the act of writing is to immortalize the mind, and what wicked and despicable mind would conjure such stories, such outrageous ideas! Surely the author is an evil bigot, a scoundrel, and must be silenced at once, tied to a post and burnt at the stake of public shame!

Pick up the digital forks and torches of indignation and rally in the modern witch-hunt that is censorship, ban this book and that one!

Ah sorry I got carried away there.

While this may not happen, the mere chance of this happening is enough for anyone to self-censor, to be ashamed of one's writings.

Therefore let us write about only the most pleasant, the most predictable stuff possible. Follow the formula, the established norms, the elves and the dragons, the humanoid aliens and the faster than light space travel, the strangers falling desperatly in love and the oh so very mysterious killer, and all the other mind-boggling ''expectations of the genre'' there are, the rules of commercial writing...

Please, I need sensitivity readers, I wouldn't wish to offend anyone! Is my shitty regurgitated word salad of a novel politically correct? Are my characters diverse enough? Oh please, please, tell me exactly what I need to do!

Shackles! Shackles I say, yes.

Let anyone think, assume what they wish, allow yourself to be shaken to the core by self-discovery, to grow as a person and as an artist. For writing is ART, and art is free, pure, independant. Let us write as an emotional outlet, and be brave to face ourselves, to embrace the truth or not bother at all.

Writing is, inevitably, tackling deeply personal issues, it's part of the writer's journey. To put down the words to get to know oneself, to walk along with the reader on the rocky path to CATHARSIS, where magic truly lies..

The best fiction, in my opinion, challenges societal norms, asks uncomfortable questions about our culture and ways of life, our values. Take Lolita, this controversial but oh so praised novel, about this pedophile lusting over and raping little children... What the hell! Yet no matter how revolting such books are, they are necessary, they open our eyes to facets of reality that aren't talked about, aren't aknowledged, for how ugly they are.

Authenticity should be one of the greatest virtue in a writer; only in the vulnerable, raw complicity with the creative act can a writer share his truth, his most profound ideas, only then can the reader truly be shaken and touched. For that is the ultimate goal of writing; to touch the soul of the readers. To share a glimpse of our deepest impressions on the world, on love despair and everything in between. Now that's a good line.

And so discard, ignore, throw out the window this vicious aberrant SHAME. Emancipate yourself from shame, until only truth talent and pure creativity flows from your mind onto the pages, until your very ideas reach the soul of any others, open their eyes to your perspective, their hearts changed forever, such is the power of authenticity.

Perhaps that is what a writer should strive for, to be emancipated of any shame, and be as authentic as possible?

Thanks for reading! I would love to read your comments on the subject, your personal struggles (and victories) over shame. Lets continue the discussion in the comments