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My drug of choice is writing––writing, art, reading, inspiration, books, creativity, process, craft, blogging, grammar, linguistics, and did I mention writing?

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

But The Art Will Be Great….Right?

One of the refrains I see when fascism rises (higher than it already is) and begins to sweep across—well, let's be honest here—the Republican Party……is that "at least the art will be great." Like everything else is going to suck for millions, and we might end up at war,  and probably a lot of marginalized people are going to die, but at least we'll get some good albums and novels out of it.  

But will we? 

Will we really?

Turbulent times of cultural tension can create great artistic expression. But if you're grabbing popcorn and hoping for a lit art scene, you might want to check your history books. Because you know what doesn't create artistic expression? Artists going hungry, and keeping their heads down because they might get killed.

Artists have to get paid. I don't know when the idea showed up that artists shouldn't get paid for their work. 

Actually, I do. 

It was in the early 19th century France (and late 18th in Germany) when "art for art's sake" became so absurdly en vogue. Art then became almost exclusively something done by "starving artists" (or maybe by an upper class, white, gentlemen-of-leisure type who didn't need to work or raise kids or anything) and the idea that money sullied it showed up. It wasn't that other people weren't MAKING art (and good art)…to pay the bills, it's just that the circle jerk of rich white men deciding only other rich white men were making "real" art showed up. France and Germany were two tiny European nations joining England in telling the rest of the world how to live around this time.

One of the reasons that around that time we have way too many books by landed gentry white dudes with too much time on their hands.

And like most things the power elite and monied classes do, the bourgeoisie adopted it lock, stock, and cliché so they could play at feeling like they have some modicum of power by enforcing status quos (instead of their reality of being proletarians about three or four paychecks away from destitute) and proceeded to use it to create an artificial class barrier to feel superior to people who expected to be compensated for their expertise and time. 

This idea of art for art's sake and starving genius artists endured even after art exploded in its consumption, artists became celebrities, and most began to be exploited by capitalism. 

First of all, fuck that. If you didn't pay attention in ANY humanities classes, let me give you the straight dope on this: some of the best, most endearing, most provocative art came either back in the way back when an artist had a patron making sure they were WELL taken care of so they didn't have to work some menial job that took them away from creativity or when they absolutely were doing it as a job. Not starving. Not above it all. Just like everyone else making a living. 

I shouldn't have to tell you this, but France and Germany at the height of European colonialism don't get to decide what makes for good art. They sure thought they did (particularly at the time), but they didn't. Even at the zenith of this myth about what was considered "high" art for its own sake, you can still find better art that isn't.

But also…an artist can't be creating something you find subversive if subversion will get them hurt. And I’m not trying to be alarmist, but that’s where authoritarian movements that create scapegoats in marginalized communities always wind up going—artists who don't toe the line land in prison or get dead.  These times are the LULLS in a nation's artistic expression. (Unless they're cranking out a lot of propaganda.) You might find most artists to be pretty resilient against social consequence. They don't seem to care if they upset the status quo and if you threaten them with a one-way ticket out of polite society, they're liable to ask you if they can take the express train. But when you're jailing them, disappearing them for a while, or worse for having the temerity to hold a black light to the sheets of society, you're not going to get a lot of rousing artistic discourse.

It turns out that social consequence or even oppression in the form of marginalization or cultural imperialism might embolden most artists but actually imprisoning them or worse has kind of a chilling effect on their creativity. Violence puts us in a survival and crisis mode that isn't where creativity happens.

If you really want your art to be off the hook, pay the shit out of artists and make sure that they are safe enough to feel like they're just losing social standing and their comped tickets to BRESH instead of their homes, their livelihood, their freedom, and possibly their lives.

And on that note, here's my patreon if you're looking for an artist to support.

Friday, January 24, 2025

Follow this Blog (or me). Now NEW and IMPROVED!


Interested in following Writing About Writing? Or Chris Brecheen?

If you're trying to follow Writing About Writing (or if you are trying to follow ME as a writer), it might actually be confusing to navigate all the different ways I am online and what goes where.

Writing About Writing is on several social media, but each medium is updated a little bit differently. Some get every post I make, no matter how major or minor. Some media are privy to a cycle of "reruns" where most days I cycle through the popular posts of the past so that new folks can see old posts they may have missed (and old fans can be reminded of treasured classics).

Some social media have different signal-to-noise. Some I update in other capacities. Some are fire and forget. In some, I post my writing that is not "about writing," like the blog NOT Writing About Writing. Other places, more strictly ABOUT writing, pretty much keep it to this blog and it's updates along with macros, puns, and "You should be writing" memes. A lot of people have left Facebook and almost everyone I know has left X (Twitter). 

Here are a few questions I get a lot:

What should you follow if you want to see everything I write? 

You want My Public Facebook Page. Follow it (or friend it if you check out the guidelines below). Though be warned that it can sometimes be like drinking from a fire hose. I will post everything I write, including reruns, but I ALSO post navel gazing, proto-posts, Jack-Handy-caliber deep thoughts, amateur political punditry, social justice thoughts, macros, silliness, and geekery. 


What should you follow if you basically want all the official posts I write, but not a bunch of crap about politics, video games, my day, or social justice?

You will get a higher signal to noise ratio if you follow my Tumblr, but I write about politics, video games, social justice, and sometimes my day, so I'm not really sure you can avoid that if you're interested in me as a writer.

What should you follow if you basically want the Writing About Writing blog, but almost nothing else. 

You want the Writing About Writing Group. TWO posts most days (one new and one rerun). There is one meme (but only one) that is the prior day's best from the page. I almost never post from my other writing, and I almost never post more than one meme.

What should you follow if you basically want memes, puns, articles, and "you should be writing" reminders and don't really care about reading my blog?

Okay, that's cool. No no. It's fine. Really. While I put some aloe on this burn, you want the Writing About Writing page. Lots of memes, macros, puns, and comics and it's easy to scroll past the occasional post from my blog.

What should I do if I want all of these things? All of it! Give me more!!

Follow the Writing About Writing Facebook PageThe Writing About Writing Facebook Group, and my Public Facebook Page. Then go to the following button on the page and set your preferences to "See First." I will warn you that you may see some repeat posts, but this if you want to miss the fewest things I post, this is the way.

Or if you don't like Facebook, follow me on Bluesky and Tumblr. The two together should have pretty much everything I write.

All nearby Mandalorians in unison:
"This is the way"


The "Join this site" button on the left, toward the bottom of this (and every) page. 

Following Writing About Writing through Google's Blogger allows you to assemble a collection of blogs you follow. Most people following the blog this way have their own blog through Blogger, but it's not necessary. (You only actually need a Google account, which many people have through Gmail.) You will be notified when I write a new post.

Pros- Shows all updates (minor and major). Updates in a timely manner.

Cons- No reruns. No posts from any other venues. Blogger usually takes a few hours to get the latest post up.


R.S.S. Feed 

Note: Google has recently discontinued FEEDBURNER, but if you still want an RSS and/or email feed, here is a page of alternatives

If you have an RSS reader, you may like to simply be updated by having your RSS feed updated with the text of my latest post. If you click on the Feedburner button AT THE BOTTOM of the page, you can subscribe to Writing About Writing through a number of RSS readers including FeedDemon, Netvibes, My Yahoo, Shrook, NewsFire, RSSOwl and more. 

One of many Feedburner alternatives at the link above.


Pros- Shows all new updates (major and minor). Updates instantly.

Cons- RSS feed does not include reruns (even the Greatest Hits I like to cycle through). No posts from other venues. Many RSS readers are JUST text, so you won't see the images that are part of the posts. Also, if you get a little behind on your feed, catching up feels Sisyphean and knowing the next update is coming feels like the sword of Damocles. (Gotta get my Greek metaphors on.)


Email Notification 

….has been disabled by Blogger.

I'm really sorry. I will keep my eye on a replacement. When I'm making enough to pay all the bills with writing, one of the first orders of business is going to be hiring a web designer to completely overhaul the site and have all the cool things that I can't figure out how to do.


I keep most short things on Bluesky. While I'm not ready to leave Facebook, a lot of my friends ARE, so anything that CAN fit into the 300 character limit, will, and if it can't fit in 300 characters, it'll end up in a post that I LINK to on Bluesky (or I'll post it to Tumblr). This DOES mean that Bluesky is going to see a LOT of my personal posts.

Pros- A glimpse into my private life.

Cons- Who wants to see THAT crap?

Twitter

No

Pros- Peace of mind. Not supporting a Neonazi. 

Cons- Are there really any?


(That heading is a link)

W.A.W.'s Facebook page is its whole own thing.

In order to build an audience on Facebook, I spend a lot of time posting memes, macros, "you should be writing" reminders, inspirational messages, videos, and whatever thing about writing I find interesting and want to share.

This may seem counterintuitive, but I actually try NOT TO POST TOO MUCH FROM MY BLOG. The audience I've spent years carefully cultivating will not stick around if things get spammy. Most of the FB audience is there for the shenanigans, not the blog cross-posting.

You can increase your chances of seeing posts by setting the page to "see first," but you'll never see everything……because Zucc. FB does something horrible frequently enough that if I could som

Click "See first" to see more. 
But because FB wants page admins paying money
nothing you do will ever get you everything I post.
(You have to visit the page periodically and go through our history for that.)


Pros- Lots of other fun stuff going on. 

Cons- Lots of other stuff going on which. Also the FB algorithm prevents page followers from seeing every post so some W.A.W. posts will get lost. Not a good place to get all the blog updates if you want them. Enjoying anything on FB requires a shower with steel wool and industrial cleanser. Facebook is the Antichrist.


(The heading is a link)

I joined Tumblr after Facebook's 2016 round of content throttling. Then Tumblr started doing it too and THEN they axed LGBTQIA+ content because of overkill compliance with Fosta/Sesta. These days I'll post all my blog stuff (reruns too) including from the non-writing blog, and a few of my well received memes very similar to my FB group except more memes and I sometimes I share other Tumblrs or something a little social justice-y. 

Pros- Blog posts from all locations. Best meme of the day. 

Cons- Somewhat limited presence on Tumblr. And I share other Tumblr posts about social issues from time to time.


(The heading is a link)

Different from the FB page, the Facebook GROUP will only have the blog posts (usually two a day) and a single macro/meme/infographic that is kind of like "The prior day's best."

Pros- Mostly just blog cross posts. (Reruns and current.) Once-a-day "best of" macro/meme.

Cons- Nothing else.

(The heading is a link) 

My Public FB profile is a melange of personal updates, posts about politics and social issues, geekery, things I find about non-monogamy, introversion, and pop culture. But it will also include some "behind-the-scene" thoughts about writing, running a page, and the creative process. (And sometimes complaining about some of the people I run into on the page itself.) If you wish there were more "Social Justice Bard" posts, this is a place where you can read the proto-versions of some of them as well as the ones that never make it to the blog.

You might want to follow for a while and decide IF you want to send me a friend request. I'm definitely not everyone's cup of tea with the geekery and the social justice stuff. 99.9% of my posts are public, so you really wouldn't be missing anything except the ability to comment.

If you don't care for my (very) occasional social issues post on other social media, you will like my profile even less. I write about that stuff almost daily. I can be a bit much for people. I post a lot. 

I have a Commenting Policy for this profile. You should read it before charging in. ESPECIALLY before charging into a contentious post. 

If you do want to "FRIEND" me, send me a PM with your request. (Don't worry, I check my "Message Requests" inbox at least once a day.) That account gets around 100-200 friend requests a week. I reject most of them because I don't know if they're there to try and rent my page or just pick a fight in the comments. So send me a message along with the request.

Pros- See more of "me." Get "behind the scene" updates. See "alpha" versions of posts and thoughts that never quite make it.

Cons- I post a LOT. I am not shy about my liberalism/leftism. 

(The heading is a link)

Yes, I even have an Instagram. It gets periodic updates as well as the the occasional selfie (although late stage capitalism demands that I point out my Patreon selfie tier is still the best way to get those). I don't really pay much attention to it since images (or short videos) are not the medium I work in.

(The heading is a link)

Though Patreon is less of a social medium, my patrons do get pictures and content through various tiers that are not available to anyone else. Newsletters, early access to posts, and the occasional post about what's going on that my regular readers aren't privy to. 

Others? 

I would love if something better existed than these few (oft problematic) sites. I know there's shit out there like MeWe or Dreamwidth. Most everywhere seems to suffer from two things:

1- Everytime we move, everyone goes somewhere different and some people I never see again.
2-As soon as they get enough people, capitalism corrupts them to be similarly evil, so there's no escape other than to use social media in the most subversive way possible. 

Right now, I am also fettered. For all Facebook's throttling and trying to squeeze blood from my stones (and even restricting my account for no reason and not telling me why), running a page of 1.3 million is what has made it possible for me to be a working writer.

Monday, January 6, 2025

Everyone Needs An Unofficial Ted Lasso Puzzle Book

One of my true honors and privileges as an artist with far more reach than I deserve for the work I do or have done is that (provided that I do not abuse the privilege) EEEEEEVERY once in two or three whiles I can point at some art or projects that one of my friends is doing and give them a little boost.

It's not much, and it's a LOT less than people who get envious of my platform seem to think. I don't hit a button and make anyone thousands of dollars for their self-published NaNoWriMo drafts. But if their shit is awesome, they might sell another couple dozen.

Last year, my editor and a coauthor, both of whom are fans of Ted Lasso, published the third of three puzzle books. If you like word games and like Ted Lasso, they are a lot of fun. The coauthor supports a charity called Steps of Faith, and through that group (and a couple of steps I'm leaving out), met Jason Sudeikis—the man behind the Ted Lasso series. Jason autographed all three of the puzzle books and graciously allowed himself to be photographed doing that for the books' promotion.

Lift it Like Lasso Volume One

Lift it Like Lasso Volume Two

Lift it Like Lasso Volume Three


The coauthor that I mentioned also has a blog where you can check out her work with Steps of Faith and the way she ended up with copies of her own book autographed by the creator of Ted Lasso. Enjoy.

Rebecca's Blog