I Apologize and Eloborate

Two days ago, I, Nick Adams, wrote a modern day fable intended to mimic the dark style of original Brothers' Grimm tales. In that effort, I failed.

I have implied, sometimes explicitly, that challenging people should be a goal of all artisans. However, there is no value in shocking people. Howard Stern is not an artisan of the airwaves and Uwe Boll does not make meaningful films. Challenging people is not the same as upsetting, horrifying or disgusting them. Anybody could make a movie, or write a story, about a man vomiting for two hours. And just because people wouldn't like it doesn't mean it's art.

Other people live in this world and writers should remember that when they write specifics. If you write a story about a guy whose father shoots himself, you better realize that there are people who have experienced that and will take it in a far different context than others who have not. Everybody in the audience brings something different the work they view. The best writers use the specifics to touch as many people personally as they can; they tap into the common human experience. Perhaps we don't all know what it is like to have a dog return home after a month in the wilderness, but we all know what it's like being reunited with a loved one.

While short notice, this is not a throw-away post. I am not over-selling my personal apology but rather trying to see one of the many bigger issues here. Artists (writers, paintings, filmmakers, photographers, etc) and all people have a responsibly to not be controlled by others but also have a responsibly to be controlled by themselves.