Podcast
Walter Rhein Podcast
Hosted by Walter Rhein · EN
Thoughts on culture, politics, racism, and what the United States has to do to make up for this embarrassment of an administration.
walterrhein.substack.com
walterrhein.substack.com
152episodes
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We Will Respond to Their Hate With Love, We'll Answer Their Despair With Hope
Yesterday00:06:37Tap to summarizeYou all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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A Boy Spit in My Daughter's Face in Spanish Class and This Is What Happened
Yesterday00:09:54Tap to summarizeThis was originally published in May of 2023, but it came up in a live the other day so I thought I’d repost it. I want all the conservative apologists out there to read this. We need to have a better society. Incidents like this are too commonplace, and the blatant disrespect that comes from conservative ideology is responsible.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI. Am. Livid.For those of you about to tell me that I need to move, I realize your heart is in the right place. But answer me this: Move where? Where can I go where the cancer of disrespect and aggression that has infected the United States will not reach me?Abroad?Do you really think the United States doesn’t have influence on what happens abroad? Do you really think that there is anywhere you can go, anywhere in the world, where some entitled American won’t come up and spit in your child’s face? They don’t like you because of the color of your skin or the person that you love or the language that you speak, and they always feel they have the right to unprovoked aggression because they know there will never be consequences for the aggressors.This is America.No, fleeing is not the answer. Besides many people lack the resources to flee. But I’m not going to sit on my hands, harbor my strength, and allow entitled bigots to spit in the faces of innocent children.It may not be in the news so much anymore, but we’re still in a pandemic. Under normal circumstances, spitting in somebody’s face would be considered an unacceptable physical aggression. In an era of potentially lethal communicable diseases, spitting in somebody’s face should be considered criminal.What happened?Are we at the point now where something as simple as Spanish class is enough to trigger the entitled people in our society? Does a brainwashed boy who has been listening to his heroes chant, “Build the wall!” become enraged at the simple idea that a language besides English should be a topic of study in public school?Radical groups are already banning history in the form of legislation directed at critical race theory (CRT). Are boys who sit in Spanish class fuming at the suggestion that non-English speakers deserve the same respect and dignity as any other human being? Is that what’s going on?My family is an immigrant family. We speak Spanish in our home. Everybody in my family is fluent in Spanish.Of course, there’s no special consideration for my daughter at the local school district when it comes to her advanced abilities. We have IEPs for kids who are struggling. That is as it should be since education is a human right. However, why don’t we have IEPs for exceptional children?Why does my daughter, who probably has a better grasp of Spanish than the teacher, have to sit through basic lessons? Why can’t she be considered an assistant? Why can’t her skills be utilized to help the other kids? Why does she essentially have to sit there being bored and have her time wasted?Yesterday my daughter received a perfect score on her test. Her reward was that some boy in the class, whom she had never talked to before, marched over and spit in her face.That’s America for you. This is the result of all the hatred that’s been directed at immigrants for the last decade (and more). I warned you this was going to happen. Sooner or later, somebody’s going to spit in the face of your child too.I know the name of the boy who did it, but I’m guessing I’d face stiffer consequences for revealing it than he’s going to face for spitting in my daughter’s face.It’s my impression that America always offers more protections for aggressors than the innocent people they attack. I’m not the only one who has this impression.How I found outI found out this happened because my daughter told me. Actually, she told my wife and my wife told me. She said she knew it was going to make me upset.Imagine that, my daughter was trying to protect me from this. What’s the social programming responsible for that response? Already she knows that when she’s the target of aggression she’s expected to remain quiet? This is the lesson our society teaches!Do you know what should have happened? I should have been informed by the teacher. I should have received a written report with signatures from the principal, teacher, and school resource officer. They should have informed me that the aggressor had been removed from the classroom, and they should be asking if I want to file criminal charges.Instead, this got swept under the rug.“Boys will be boys.”BS.Now take a step back and consider this. What if it had been a student that spit in the face of a teacher, or the principal, or the school resource officer? I’m guessing that if that had happened, I’d have received a phone call within minutes. I’m guessing I would have been called in for a sit down.But when it’s my daughter getting spit on, there’s nothing. This is the selective perception that allows evil to flourish. Unless something happens directly to a person in power, nobody cares.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offCars in the parking lotEvery day when I drop off my kids at school, I’m confronted with images of blatant aggression.There’s this guy who thinks it’s “cute” to put a decal of a hand grenade on his window. Every single day when I turn on the television, I have to watch a news report about another group of students that was slaughtered at a school. In that context, this guy thinks it’s okay to drive up to a school with a picture of a grenade on the back of his car?Then there’s this vehicle with the racist “Joe and the Hoe” sticker. These are common in my community. Hoe in this context, referring to a woman of color, is appallingly racist. The word refers to the Jezebel stereotype that plantation owners used to “justify” raping their slaves. However, people will claim ignorance about this historical fact because they’ve managed to keep the harsh realities of the American slave era out of schools.Then there’s this guy who uses weapons of war to spell out a profanity, and also adds the racist phrase just for an additional kick in the teeth. Again, this is the kind of window decal you see in a country where children are routinely slaughtered. The profanity is written using the very images of the weapons of war that are used to murder children.Our society is okay with this? Our society is okay with this kind of image on display a few blocks from a school?You act like you’re surprised that kids get spit on. It seems to me that there are a lot of messages laying around that encourage people to spit on kids.My children have been harassed since 2016For years, ignorant men wearing red hats have been getting in the face of my wife and kids and screaming, “Build the wall!” However, our society fails to recognize that represents hate speech.In 2021, an armed mob was allowed to attack the Capitol. The consequences have been slow in coming. We’re all told that we should “forget about it” and “move on.”I’ve been the target of physical attacks in the past. In the heat of the moment, somebody punches you in the face and gives you a bloody nose. You’re the one who bleeds. You’re the one who is humiliated. You’re the one who is laughed at.But then, when the time for consequences come, people start saying, “Oh, that’s in the past. Why can’t you let it go? Why do you have to insist on ruining somebody’s life?”The result is that the innocent party is attacked twice. You suffer the initial attack, then you have to suffer the smear campaign when you try to take action to ensure the same abuse doesn’t happen again.But you’ve got to understand that the type of person that would spit in your face isn’t sincere about his remorse. He’s not sorry he spat on you, he’s sorry he might get in trouble for it. The second the heat is turned down, he’s going to go and spit on somebody else.The answer to aggressive people isn’t to sit back and endure their behavior. The answer is ...
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We're Living in an Era of Republican Domestic Terrorism
2d ago00:09:08Tap to summarizeYou all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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Please Don't Try to Correct Me By Regurgitating Culturally Indoctrinated Toxic Conditioning
3d ago00:08:16Tap to summarizeYou all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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Shut Up About Graham Platner and Start Elevating Good Candidates
3d ago00:07:30Tap to summarizeThanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offThere are 435 house seats and 35 senate seats up for election. All of these races have primaries. Sometimes these primaries have multiple candidates. But to listen to the grifter media, you’d think the only race currently going on in the US is happening in Maine.Both big media and independent journalists are clutching their pearls over Graham Platner. The one fact that they conveniently overlook is that if they’d done their job a year ago, they might have published these stories in time to elevate a good candidate. Now they’re committed to hand-wringing over Platner to cover up their complicity and to trick you into supporting their worthless publications.Fool me twice, shame on you.Unlike these other “journalists,” I actually was interviewing primary challengers a year ago. My first interview was with Laura Benjamin who was running for Wisconsin 3. It’s a seat currently occupied by Derrick Van Orden. Benjamin eventually ended her campaign, and I’ve gone on to interview Emily Berge five times. She is a wonderful candidate. She deserves all the press that Platner doesn’t. Start supporting the publications that do the right thing and talk about the right people.I was one of the first people on Substack to interview Francesca Hong. She’s an excellent, Mamdani style candidate who is currently the frontrunner for Wisconsin governor. She could use the support of Substack journalists too. Every word wasted on Platner takes us farther from the society that would be well within our reach if people would just wake up.A few weeks ago, I interviewed Ericka Kopp for VA-01 and Melat Kiros. These two brilliant women made my heart soar. If you watch even five minutes of that interview, you’ll see a realistic and achievable vision for a prosperous and humanitarian future. At the end, Melat gives some thoughts on appealing to MAGA that is probably the most insightful assessment I’ve heard since this whole nightmare began.But again, the grifter journalists only want to talk about Graham Platner.For almost a year, I’ve been screaming into the void. I’ve been interviewing every single candidate that reaches out to me. I’ve been doing a lot of work with Citizens' Impeachment. They’ve put together a community of around 150 candidates that are working on a plan to restore our country when they win their elections.But grifter journalists only want to talk about Graham Platner.And don’t think that the journalists of Substack can claim ignorance. I’ve been appealing to them for years. I’ve reached out dozens of times to millionaire funded publications pleading with them to pay attention to these candidates.They haven’t so much as shared or cross posted my big list of interviews:They have unlimited time to write article after article about Graham Platner, but they don’t have time to hit restack?At some point, we have to recognize that the majority of our precious “independent” media personalities are a bunch of phonies. They aren’t really out there on the front lines working to educate the population. Instead, they’re just chasing “open rates” and grabbing liberal money.They know that hysteria about Graham Platner will get them paid, and they’re indifferent about the fact that journalists have the power to get a new generation of quality candidates elected.It’s up to readers to hold publications to that standard. Stop submitting to MAGA conditioning.It’s ridiculous that so called “activists” won’t so much as restack any of the articles I produce. This frustrated me for a long time until I realized that I expected these big publications to be something they’re not.The change needed to defeat authoritarianism happens in every individual heart. We have to put aside our competitive indoctrination, and find our commitment to helping each other.I’ve always aspired to model that. I don’t hesitate to promote the work of good journalists. I do my best to platform writers who are out there giving visibility to quality people. I’ve found that I get a lot more support from writers with small platforms than the “post and ghost” representatives of old school celebrity journalism.Are you honestly trying to tell me that these “brilliant” writers who were fired from major publications can’t see the value of elevating good politicians?They’re grifters.They don’t really care about fighting authoritarianism or reforming our government, there out there making a buck.Now, to be clear, I don’t have any problem with people who have written a few notes or articles about Graham Platner. There are people out there who have assisted me with interviewing independent candidates who have strong opinions on Platner. You’re allowed to express your opinions. My issue is when massive platforms with massive reach pull out their hair about Platner and completely disregard all the brilliant people who are running.Every time they write about Platner, they miss an opportunity to elevate somebody better. That’s an abdication of their responsibility.Over the last few days, I’ve felt a shift. I’m seeing a lot more pressure directed at major media personalities that aren’t doing the work. This article is an excellent example. The reality is that even so-called “left-wing” journalism often follows the MAGA model. Their engine is hysteria, rage, and reaction rather than any productive strategy. They operate on division. They create drama and anger.Take a second to scroll through the supporters of some of those big money publications capitalism has indoctrinated you to admire. Check and see how many of their supporters are nameless profiles without a picture who only sponsor one publication. It’s suspicious.At some point, readers have to be more discerning about being turned into a product. These publications that spend all their time spewing rage content about Platner are only there to distract you from learning about good candidates like Francesca Hong, Emily Berge, Melat Kiros, Ruth Fortune, or any of the dozens of other candidates I’ve interviewed.Notice that all the ones I’ve mentioned are women.Now, stop and ask yourself why you’re supporting major publications that refuse to platform women?It’s time to stop allowing yourself to be the unwitting tool of the tech bro robber barons. They know that our minds have largely been captured by toxic scrolling algorithms. They want to continue to command your attention so you feel powerless and you never realize how easy it would be to win back our country.Graham Platner doesn’t deserve this level of media attention. The second a publication dedicates an article to him, you should revoke your support.Be deliberate in the information you consume. Get out there and learn about the valiant women and men of integrity who are actually fighting hard to save our country. Stop giving all your money and time to the grifters.To date I’ve interviewed 28 excellent candidates (imagine if all the big publications did that):Abel Chavez, Chris Bennett, Joel Lava, Melat Kiros, Ruth Fortune, Andrew Rice, Joseph Perez-Caputo, Robert People for Congress, John Liccione, Nick Alex for Congress GA, Joey Ruz, Elldwnia English, Alex Rikleen, Whalen for Congress, Shelby Campbell, Doug Chapin for Congress, Eri...
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“The Government Can’t Be Trusted” Was the Motto of the Confederacy
3d ago00:08:03Tap to summarizeThanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offMy cousins grew up in Kentucky. It was through them that I learned the phrase, “You can’t ever trust the government.”Even when I was little, I had problems with this concept. After all, weren’t we supposed to respect and revere the military? Wasn’t the military part of the government?When I asked these questions I was met with mockery at best and hostility at worst. “Are you trying to be smart? Obviously we’re not talking about the military.”“But...”“I’ve heard enough out of you. You’re being disrespectful.” Then came the ableist insults that have regrettably become so commonplace in our modern political dialogue. Conservatives are always more inclined to respond to questions with insults rather than answers.Throughout my life, conservatives have always attacked social benefit programs as if they’ve found them personally offensive. They’ve always referred to social security as an “entitlement” even though it’s funded through a tax on our earnings. For some reason, any plan that allows millions of Americans to escape poverty is somehow considered unacceptable to conservatives.But rather than say they want to hurt people, they insist they simply “want small government.”Unfortunately, over time, conservative ideology has become the status quo. The general population is so indoctrinated to defend conservative ideals that they think nothing of appointing a lying, cheating, con artist to the highest office in the land. As long as he claims to stand by “conservative values,” all the gatekeepers step aside to let him pass. Even laws that were written to prevent insurrectionists from taking office are ignored in deference to the conservative ideal.“We can’t create a welfare state,” they claim. “Any time you allow the government to take care of the people, you clear the way for abuse.”Again I ask, “But don’t we depend on our military to take care of us? Isn’t that why we pay for the military?”I never get an answer. Lately the responses are more hostile and more abusive.One of the things that’s become appallingly clear is the lack of understanding the general population has when it comes to history. We’ve all turned over our brains to digital oligarchs. Our children have been programmed by malicious devices. Little by little, we’ve allowed nefarious forces to erode our right to choice. Algorithms select what we see on streaming services and on social media platforms. Soon, AI will dominate search engines as well.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offThere are ongoing efforts to defund public schools and libraries. Book stores and record stores are already a thing of the past. The text books which are used to teach history are printed in the Confederate south. They’ve swapped the truth for the Lost Cause narrative, and we’ve all been conditioned not to ask questions.When people say, “the government can’t be trusted,” we nod along in agreement and never think to consider the origin of that phrase. I first heard it from my cousins who grew up in Kentucky. They referred to the Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression.“You can’t submit to doing what the government tells you,” they’d say. They repeated this with pride, as if they were rebels. Did they know that these words were first spoken by plantation owners? Did they know that these plantation owners were aggrieved because the government dared to strip them of the human beings they felt entitled to claim as property?In modern America, we don’t have universal healthcare. Conservatives will come forth and insist that it’s not the government’s responsibility to protect the people. They say the same thing about fair wages and education and worker protections.The root of this ideology was born from the rage when the government stepped in to say rich people were no longer allowed to own human slaves.That behavior was recognized as a crime against humanity, but the rage has never gone away.Modern conservatives are the descendants of the confederacy.For years, conservatives have operated on the assumption that government cannot work. They leverage the inherent difficulty of survival, and use it as an opportunity to place false blame on anyone who is honestly trying to offer aid.“If they were sincere, why didn’t they solve every problem in the world already?”Then the people cheer. The conservatives get appointed to positions of power, and they deliberately sabotage any mechanism that was put in place to help humanity.“See?” they cry as they dismantle every humanitarian program, “That never worked anyway!”Today, we are all looking upon the wreckage of a dismantled nation. Conservatives have defunded the pandemic response team even as an Ebola outbreak threatens the world population. Women have been deprived of their right to bodily autonomy. Children are regarded as the property of their parents. An entire elite class of billionaire child traffickers is enjoying the protection of multiple branches of government.Even now, the American public thinks there is some merit in being mistrustful of the government. At some point it should be obvious that government is a tool. We shouldn’t fear the levers of power, we should fear the ambitions of corrupt men.Conservatives always claim they stand for limited government. Another thing the general population seems to overlook is that when conservatives gain control, the government always expands. They run up the debt. They spend a fortune on war and concentration camps and secret police.They don’t want a smaller government. The only thing that makes them mad is a government that protects human rights. Conservative ideology has been infected with a grievance mentality left over from angry, entitled men who felt they were robbed of their right to torment human beings. We have a rape class today. They allow wages to stagnate. They’ve take our healthcare and education away. Conservatives did this.The population of the United States of America is due for a rude awakening. At the heart of everything is the need for a critical change of perspective. For too long, malicious forces have blamed the concept of government for everything that’s wrong in society. It’s time that we taught our children that government can be good as long as we ensure it’s entrusted to women and men of integrity.The government isn’t the problem. We’re still beholden to the sins of the Confederacy. They’ve taken possession of our whole society, and it’s long past time that they faced accountability.When all this is over, we have to put to rest the fundamental deceit that government can’t be trusted. In fact, we must demand that our government stands as a beacon to defend the unalienable rights due to all of humanity. Those that attack social justice programs are actually waging war against common decency. This is the legacy of the Confederacy. We’ve allowed them to erase their crimes from the pages of history, and that’s condemned us all to endure their tortures once more.We have to tell our children that government can be trusted provided we never allow conservatives, Confederates, or the enablers of cruelty near the levers of power ever again. They must be peacefully, legally, and lawfully removed. Then we can start to rebuild.This is a lesson that must endure. The next time somebody says, “We can’t trust the government,” understand that it’s the person who says those words who likely can’t be trusted. People are the weak link, not the ideals we hold most dear.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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Dismantling the Deceit and Indoctrination Inherent to Conservative Ideology
4d ago01:02:42Tap to summarizeThis was a great talk with Deuce Davis! He likes to “reality check” a lot of conservative publications and I think that’s critical work. I absolutely loved this conversation and I look forward to talking with him again. You can find him here:Thank you Evan Stern, A. Eevie Bateman, Skutt Hope, Stuart Cohen, Ms.Yuse, and many others for tuning into my live video with Deuce Davis! Join me for my next live video in the app.I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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How The Powder Keg of Conservative Male Sexual Frustration and Loneliness Leads to Violence
4d ago00:06:20Tap to summarizeYou all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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Relax and Allow Your Over-Arching Plot Structure to Emerge Organically
4d ago00:06:58Tap to summarizeHow about I give you a break from politics and offer some nice thoughts on writing?Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offA lot of writers get duped into spending a ton of money on some ridiculous course built on a false promise. There are plenty of charlatans out there who know how to leverage a combination of vulnerability and impostor syndrome to take advantage of innocent people.I absolutely despise seeing writers getting fleeced. The majority of the writers I know are good, honest, decent, and caring people. They’re exactly the type of people who are most qualified to handle the burden of authority. Unfortunately, we live in a society that contains a mechanism to reward corruption.There is so much bad writing advice, and so many scams, that I honestly believe most people would be better off retreating to a secluded cabin to figure out the mechanism of storytelling for themselves. In my experience, even college classes repeat concepts that are easily exposed as blatant lies.The simple fact is that you can’t give some self-stylized writing guru a hundred dollars, and then receive advice that will transform you overnight. It’s not happening, so save your money. Anything that distracts you from putting pen to paper is ultimately derailing your ability to improve.Plot doesn’t matterI meet a lot of writers who assume the secret to writing “the great American novel” is to sit down and figure out some meticulous and intricate plot. It’s natural enough for a person who has never tried to write a book to land on that idea.You could compare it to how a person who has never worked on an engine might perceive a car. When you pop the hood and you see all those squiggly bits and whirly gizmos, it’s natural to assume it must be some part of a preconceived plan.It’s astonishing to discover that’s not the case. It’s so astonishing that a person who has absolutely no idea of the history of engines won’t believe it when you tell them. But all you have to do is pop a hood from a vehicle that was built 50 years ago. When you do that, you’ll see an astonishing amount of empty space. That’s when you’ll realize the complexity of the modern engine, and the way the components are designed, represents nothing more than additions to an existing structure.The point I’m making is that nobody could have sat down and designed the modern engine the first time they tried. Instead, you start with something basic. You start with something that works. Then the rest is added on as necessity arises.“You must start with a perfect plot”Any instructor who says your story structure must be perfect from the beginning is either deliberately lying to you or unconsciously inept. I’ve seen professors map out story structures as if the activity will yield some sort of insight into creation that can’t be achieved in any other way.As far as I’m concerned, you’ll learn as much about writing by digging a hole and filling it back up. Mapping out complex plot lines is a waste of time. I guarantee that’s not the process the creator used.The problem with truth is that it’s a lot harder to use to fleece people. Charlatans have to say they’ve mastered something complex to get people to listen. They build themselves up and puff out their chests and look down their noses at you.In contrast, if you say, “Just come up with a basic story line and let the novel emerge,” there’s no money. Unfortunately, our society is so driven by profit that truth is often discarded in the ditch.Strip the plot down to its most basic elementDon’t get me wrong, there is value in looking to the great works of literature for inspiration. But you have to do your evaluations honestly. Don’t start with the assumption that there’s some magic that transforms a manuscript into a work of genius. Coming up with a plot is like sticking a seed in the ground. The size of the seed doesn’t matter, it’s the process of cultivation.Writing is a process. Don’t think of yourself as a creator, think of yourself as a gardener.Consider the plot of The Hobbit. You could summarize it as “A soft individual joins a quest to reclaim a stolen treasure.” I didn’t even mention the word “dragon” because that’s not necessary. You’ve got everything you need with what I just said. That’s the plot. You’re done.Once you’ve written that down, the questions start coming naturally:* How did he meet the other members of the quest?* Where did the treasure come from?* How was the treasure stolen?* Who stole the treasure?* How will the treasure be reclaimed?This goes on and on and on. Answering those questions is how you write a book. That’s how the first person who said, “I want to build a machine that can take me places,” ended up creating the complex jumble of mechanisms and wires you see when you pop the hood.Be true to your charactersThe hard part about being a writer isn’t coming up with a perfect plot. The hard part is being true to your characters. When you come right down to it, people pick up books to be entertained and to learn something about the human condition. If they don’t learn anything, the story is inauthentic. It’s unrelatable. It’s going to leave them feeling frustrated.The joy of writing is that after you’ve created the plot, you don’t know every detail about how it’s going to play out. You might even find that once you’ve gotten to the end of your story, the characters you’ve created are doomed to fail. Along the way you might find that their personality flaws will be too much to overcome. You might even discover that your main character isn’t the main character at all.Sometimes even a gardener plants a seed for an apple tree and is astonished to discover an orange tree sprouting up from the soil. You can’t force an apple tree to bear oranges. That’s the model for why most books fail. The hubris of the writer takes center stage and creates an abomination the writer doesn’t recognize but which the audience can’t ignore.When you start answering the questions that grow from the plot, you’re confronted by problems that need solutions. The solutions must be in service to the plot, and they must also be true to your characters. You can’t plan this. It emerges.Don’t get bogged down in details or assumptionsIt’s important to recognize that you’re likely to arrive at absurd assumptions about anything you haven’t formally studied. The good news is that the complexity of the world grows from astonishing simplicity.It’s been said that the simplest explanation is usually the answer. The complex justifications we go through to stop ourselves from recognizing that truth are the essence of comedy. Get out of your own way!It breaks my heart to think there are so many creative people out there who are simply bursting to tell a story, but who assume they don’t have the training required to do it justice. Nobody has to tell a seed how to grow. You simply pop it into the ground and wait.Don’t fret about irrelevant complexities. Set your characters off on a quest. Be true to the characters. Honestly answer the questions that arise. Before you know it, you’ll have created a plot far more intricate than you ever thought you could conceive.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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All The Unfinished Drafts That Writers Leave Behind
5d ago00:07:19Tap to summarizeYou all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe
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