Author & Story: Growth, Together (Patreon)

Stories are a reflection of those who write it, to some extent. Attempting to create a fully unbiased and neutral work is, in my opinion, completely impossible, and even if it was possible, it wouldn't make for an engaging narrative.

Part of the beauty of a story is, precisely, how it acts as a window into the inner mind of the Author. How it lets you learn their sense of humor, their view on the world, and how they reflect it on their work, how it affects what they write. Everything, even if mild, affects the overarching narrative- Their social and economical background, their intent when creating the story they are creating. 

Of course, it is easy to disagree with the points of view presented by an author, specially when they created their story at some point in the past. And yet, sometimes, when a work runs for long enough, or when you have a collection of works by the same Author, something becomes very apparent:

People change.

If creating a story is like baring your soul to the reader, it is only natural that what is reflected changes over time. Growth is something we all go through as people- Whether positively or negatively, it's not common for people to stay the same way they are. Specially if, in the case of an author, they share their work with enough people that the feedback affects their opinion, in turn changing whatever it is they are creating next.

Take Homestuck as an example. As I usually do, given it's my go-to content of choice for literally any kind of literary analysis. (How original of me!)

Andrew Hussie, the creator of Homestuck, is anything but perfect. He has messed up a lot through the years, and there is definitely some dated works of his still on the Internet- And even within Problem Sleuth and Homestuck, recurring phrases or tropes that could appear problematic arise every once in a while. I am not here to defend any of this because 'it was okay at the time' or 'it's accurate' or anything like that.

Rather, I would love to refer to a few quotes from the Big Man himself:

"There are two ways to do the 'obstinate douche bag' thing as an artist.

One is in the vehement defense of stagnation. Some artists I've encountered do this, and it's completely indefensible. It's as low as you can get, creatively speaking.

The other is in vehement defense of exploration. This is just the opposite. This is a posture everyone should strive for, and these artists are the ones people should be most inclined to offer their attention and support."

"The story has ways of reflecting the fandom back at itself in many respects. As things went along, I noticed there was an ever-growing LGBTQ portion of the fandom, which I wasn't really expecting to happen, but it seemed like a welcome development. 

If these were going to feel like real kids whose experiences of growing up resonated with real people reading this, it felt like a big portion of the readership should have their own experiences reflected in the thing they're reading.

I guess this is a more elaborate way of saying they should receive "representation in media". I wasn't thinking about it in such terms back then though. I think it was more about just being true about people, and the diverse range of experiences they have."

"When I equate humor as a product of intelligence, I mean it is primarily a product of awareness. The more you are aware of, and the more insight you have into a myriad of things, the more you will be able to successfully illuminate absurdity, and the more clever ways to accomplish this you will be able to conceive of. Awareness lends itself to an agile imagination. 

This is why stupidity is such comedic poison. Awareness of the world and that from which you draw your satirical muse is deadened by the mind-blunting forces that are associated with stupidity. These forces primarily are a lack of concentration and dedication, and inalertness to all that surrounds you and all content you are exposed to. As well as being quick to judge and label whatever does manage to get through the pinhole. 

Those are brain killers and comedy killers. They lead to hackneyed work at best, and incredibly awful, prejudicial, bigoted stuff at worst."

For all of his weirdness and quirks, for all the fuck-ups Hussie may have made through the years, his point of view stands true and obvious even after such a long time: Becoming a better person, aware of the way his work affects other people, is an important part of the creative process for him. Through learning about people other than himself, and through the feedback he's been given by these many, many people, he can rectify biases from the past he wasn't aware existed, and work towards something genuinely funny and interesting.

A lot of time, things spark out, about an author, a writer, an artist, that did something people don't agree with. And people will begin to dig through their social media and try to get any source they can on their past to justify everything short of harassment towards them. Sometimes even taking things out of context and ending up blaming victims of some kind of trauma because they are jumping on the bandwagon of hatred.

And while it is true that some people haven't changed their ways and keep pushing out biased and harmful content, one shouldn't make assumptions or jump too quickly into blind, raging hatred. There's a world of difference between a content creator that made transphobic or homophobic remarks in the past, but learned in time and rectified their mistakes, showing their support for their community- And a content creator that made transphobic or homophobic remarks and still does to this day. That's why 'digging back through their Social Media several years prior to throw shit on them' is generally a huge red flag in my view. If you have to go that far back to find things to smear them with, while they're proving, actively, to actually have grown or be a part of the community themselves, then congratulations, you're an asshole!

There's many situations in which criticism is well deserved, and major fuck-ups deserve a proper apology and knowing that it won't happen again. There's also many situations where a difference in opinion is not actually harmful, but can cause people to feel vitriol and start to smear an otherwise harmless author. Care should be taken to avoid actually misunderstanding someone's intentions, and if they show the will to change and better themselves with actively harmful things, second chances should be given, instead of just cancelling people after a strike.

This is not about other authors only, however. It is also about us, ourselves, as content creators.

Because when you're creating something, you too, like other authors, are opening up your Soul to others. You're showcasing inherent biases, things you personally enjoy, points of view. Even if it's only mild, even if it's only one or two things about yourself, even if you yourself don't realize it, you will always gravitate towards things that cater to you, or express things from your personal experience.

And when you do that, you can learn a lot about yourself. You can find out if there's something you didn't realize, something that could be changed for the better. Or, the polar opposite, it could help you discover exactly what is it you actually want with your creation. What do you strive for? What dreams, what desires, drive you to keep making stuff? What do you want to make others feel, and why? And, do those other people feel the way you wanted to? How can you actually reach your audience better? Build an audience in the first place?

With the connection between an author and their story, everything from finding out your style when drawing, to the undertones and overarching narrative you give a narrative, is very much akin to introspection. Soul searching.

So don't be afraid to explore what makes you create one way or another. There's nothing more satisfying than learning about past mistakes and becoming a better person, and a better creator, at the same time. Give and take criticism, of the constructive kind, help build a healthy community with good intentions.

See you another time, everyone!