To opine or not to opine

There is a writer I’ve come to know over the past few years, and thought him to be a good guy. I even liked the novel of his I read, though I haven’t gotten around to reading more yet. But whenever he speaks at conference and other writing-related forums he’s always full of good advice and thoughtful input.

Then I found his blog. To say we don’t see eye to eye on how the world works would be an understatement. I keep hoping against hope we’ll find sufficient common ground, but it just doesn’t happen. He clearly despises most of what I believe in, and feels obligated to remind me of it regularly. As much as I try to be open-minded–I do like his writing, after all, and didn’t pick up on any of this underlying frothing there–I find it coloring my perceptions of his work as well. I’m not sure I can bring myself to read another of his books. Being despised does that to me, and I’m not big enough to rise above it.

I’m not saying he shouldn’t blog. Quite the contrary. He should be allowed to speak his mind as much as he likes. But my experience being on the receiving end of that makes me question what I’m doing. I’m not an author of note by any means, but I’d like to be some day. I like to think that eventually thomstratton.com will be getting regular visits from scores of people who enjoy my novels.

What do I want them to find when they get here?

Do I want them to be turned off by my politics? For some it wouldn’t take much, I grant. The merest whiff of my beliefs would be sufficient for them to vow never to read my books again, and perhaps even start slamming Amazon with negative reviews. I can’t say I’d miss them. But is there enough on my blog to turn off even the fair-minded? Do I write about other things often enough that they don’t feel like I’m punching them in the face with my politics at every opportunity? Hard to say. Offense is in the eye of the beholder.

I know another author who is very, very careful about his “branding”. The only stand he takes on his blog is to defend the type of stories he writes (and it’s sad that an author has to defend not writing “dark and gritty, anti-hero stories”). You’d really have to dig to get even the slightest clue as to his politics. I’m not sure I could be that guy, either.

In some ways I suppose my difficulty with the first author is because it’s such a contrast. In some ways I think it borders on hypocrisy. The number of his books in the local libraries suggests the local culture is much more tolerant and supportive of him than he is of it. But had I had some inkling of his political vehemence prior to encountering his website perhaps I wouldn’t have been as turned off. His image at conferences is one thing. His image on his site is another. The dissonance is jarring.

On the other hand, if I were to meet the latter author in person and find him very opinionated and vocal, perhaps I might experience the same difficulty. Or I might find that he is consistent across the board. It could be that this author is just not that opinionated.

I guess I have to just hope there is a happy medium in there somewhere. I don’t think I can not write about what matters to me. But hopefully I can do so infrequently and/or with enough modesty that those who disagree with me can at least respect me and not feel threatened or insulted. And hopefully I can find enough other things to write about that people can forgive the occasional rant. If my blog ever becomes “all rant, all the time” I hope someone takes me aside and smacks me around (and I’m sure I’d have no problem finding volunteers, even now).

But I still find myself frequently wondering: If I make it big all of a sudden, would I be tempted to go back through my blog files and do some heavy weeding?