Talking Heads: Is writing escapism to you?

Is writing escapism to you? Discuss!

Victoria Leigh Bennett:

Hi, sorry, I don't have much of an interesting answer for this one.

Basically, I think most writers "escape" from something through their writing, whether it be a tough life, a life that's been too easy, some form of disability or prejudice, the neighbors next door, the water bill's being so high every month, having to go to the PTA and drink tepid Kool-Aid with bored parents because they're a teacher who's by the end of the evening feeling not only equally bored, but desperate enough to need some form of weapon to apply to themselves or others, but only feels competent with handling deadly words ― you get the picture.

But the escape at least a good writer achieves is more than an escape for the reader; it is often a challenge to the status quo the reader or some others of whom the reader is aware suffer equally from with the writer, and thus it makes for community.

Real "escapism," meaning cheap fiction that's just good to while away the time is probably of no real use to the reader other than that, and only aids the writer to line his or her pockets. Copiously sometimes, but to my mind, that's not worthwhile writing, though most writers wish writing paid more, and it would be a lie to say otherwise.

Of the writers who write utopias and dream worlds, I suppose they may be fantasizing along with their readers, but even good writers in those categories let the reader "achieve orgasm" first, to state it metaphorically and perhaps boldly.

Only the maladept write purely self-serving fantasies.

Fin!

Imelda Wei Ding Lo (Editor):

Yes, I think writing is often a type of escapism, especially if you're writing for yourself. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, unless you are using it to avoid real-life problems. If you do that, it becomes a form of procrastination. In certain cases, it can even worsen your real-life struggles, since you're avoiding them for weeks, months, or even years at an end.

As such, it's important to have a balance between your "real" life and your creative life. COVID-19 blurred the boundaries for many people, but constantly living inside your head can be dangerous.

To avoid that, we should create with goals in mind. Don't just endlessly daydream about your characters and stories — put pen to paper and start typing! If you keep at it, you'll soon have a novel to submit to publishers.

Tete DePunk (Editor):

It can be. Shortly put, writing, like any art form, can lapse into escapism if the creator uses their craft as a means to escape reality.

While storytelling, as with writing, can help us cope with the grinding realities we deal with on a daily basis, when our story become an outlet to escape into a "dreamscape", it becomes escapism.

If you begin neglecting the integrity of the characters and the realities of their stories, and you neglect appreciating and focusing on your own priorities in actual life, you may need to step back and distance yourself from the escapism that you are forming with your own writing.

Your own perspective on life can lapse into procrastination, or maladaptive daydreaming, which can impact your physical, mental, and emotional health. Like many things in life, moderation and the occasional reality check can prevent from this happening.

Maddison Sellers:

There is a Virginia Woolf quote that says, “A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in, not out.” This curtain, for the writer at least, is one where the world falls away, and instead, the writing itself becomes the only world you know. For myself, writing is like this.

When I write, the outside world and reality fade, and in the moments of writing, I may escape to another where characters are the only individuals I know, and the reality created is drawn in the way I wish it to be. I may linger there where there is no need to worry about the things I must do and think of the agonies of the world.

When I write, I am completely focused on it and nothing else. This kind of absorption is the curtain that has hung itself around me; I may live there for a moment and exist in a different world and escape this one.

The everyday ordinary things become beautiful, and all senses are heightened. Music can enhance this feeling of escape as the two twine together. I rarely write without music as it encourages this form of escapism, and most often find myself being first inspired through music. Two forms of intense creation create the bridge I must cross to write. And when I am there, I am immersed in another person’s point of view, the world narrows, and I can become careless in this escapism.