Pushing the Envelope: To Offend or Not to Offend
July 30, 2008 by Deb
Filed under Freelance Writing
As writers we talk often about “pushing the envelope.” We talk about testing boundaries and crossing the line in order to get people to talk and react. I think it’s our job to make people think, to make people talk and indeed to make make people take action. How far is too far though? Can you make people think and react without testing boundaries or throwing in terms that might offend?
So for discussion purposes let me ask this…where do you draw the line? When you write to be controversial or push the envelope, are you writing for yourself or are you considering your audience – or does it matter? Are there ways of getting your message across without going for the shock and awe factor?
Discuss…
Right now, most of my writing jobs are geared towards sales and remaining as positive as possible. So yesterday, I had to write an article on getting a mortgage without listing any information on the recent mortgage/housing crisis. It’s hard to ignore the negatives, but the articles have to remain positive, and it’s these articles that help pay the bills.
Here are my taboos:
Military
Religion
Patriotism (unless done humorously and including all groups)
I’m sure I’ll think of more to say. I need coffee.
I say fair and balanced is always the key idea. If you are going to push the envelope, make sure you have the facts from credible sources to back you up.
I write and edit for an in-house newsletter. One of the other writers loves to “push the envelope” and gets upset when I take that info out of his articles. He doesn’t consider the audience or the purpose, he’s just trying to be exciting without really thinking beyond himself. It’s really irritating. There’s a time and a place for everything, and writing for essentially a corporate publication is neither the time nor the place for button-pushing.
And his pieces are fine without the stuff he puts in. I think he actually may be insecure about his writing and tries to spice it up to compensate.
I agree – it depends on the market. When writing a controversial article, I think it’s always good practice to back up EVERYTHING (especially when it’s something you really care about – that way, no one can pull it apart and show where you were wrong) with good sources and solid information. My personal belief is that ’shock and awe’ is only as good as the background research.
*chucking softly to onself* There are always “new” resources, and always people who will argue with you, even when you think you are doing a “safe” piece. Ever wrote an article on make-up in the 1800’s? Shockingly you can “roust up” anger even there!
I agree with James if you want to be perfectly safe, religion, politics, and patriotism are steer away from items. If you write about them you better have your ducks in a row and develop the skin of a bison neck. Sometimes you write something that causes a bit more “reaction” than you want, just because it was something you really “felt” was the “write” (yes I did that on purpose) phrasing. Sometimes you might offend some people in ways you never dreamed… We have offended rescue shelters by offering to bring supplies and volunteer (because we raised the animals that were in the shelter) Remember Ugur’s tech writing article about trying to become “universal” and there was the uproar about keeping your “style” or “voice” There are only “relatively safe” subjects
BTW, is there anyway to put a spell check on blogs? LOL My typing on this keyboard is awful! *chuckling softly to oneself*
James,
I looked at your list and chuckled because I love to talk about all of those things. But I agree, I think it depends on what you are writing for and how you are saying it.
As an erotica writer, I like to talk frankly and openly about sex on one of my blogs, a taboo subject for many others.
I think the most important thing is that taboo or not, you stand behind everything you write.
@ Lindsey – See, that’s a cultural thing. Sex for Canadians really isn’t a big deal. But it is for other cultures. I think that religion and patriotism are topics that are sensitive across the board, no matter which country you’re from (though in varying degrees, of course).
Heh, dunno. Maybe I’m talking through my hat.
I think a lot of people, especially those entrenched in old media, draw a line at bad language. This depends on the publication—NYT, yes, Village Voice, no, but frankly there are a lot of bad writers on the Internet, and a lot of bad rants get popular on Digg. I guess my biggest beef is flat out rejection without considering any nuance.
No James, I would agree that religion and patriotism are sensitive topics for everyone. I just don’t think you should stay away from them entirely. I think having a dialogue about these topics helps people get a better understanding of the issues.
Ah, for sure. I agree with you there. We fear what we do not understand and that causes closed minds. Calm discussion and sharing of views always helps makes things less sensitive and more widely accepted.
Unfortunately, too many people have the inability to remain respectful and stay calm. So maybe that’s really the issue of the whole topic. It isn’t about what we write – it’s about the general ability of people to discuss it with respect.
“Unfortunately, too many people have the inability to remain respectful and stay calm. So maybe that’s really the issue of the whole topic. It isn’t about what we write – it’s about the general ability of people to discuss it with respect.”
True! Especially if you are writing online. I find people who can hide behind a username will say things that they would never say to that person’s face, that’s for sure!
Well, as anyone who has read my Blog Idol entry for this week knows, I’m not afraid to make people a little uncomfortable and take a little flack for it as well as engage people in discussions.
With that said, I pick my battles. In my time as an ad copywriter, I have come head-to-head with many a creative director, client, and even consumer who wanted the team to “play it safe.” But let’s be serious, do you really remember the advertisements that play it safe? There is so much media thrown at the average consumer that it takes a bit of brute force to catch their attention sometimes. And I am glad there are people who aren’t afraid to use it.
But let’s get back to picking battles. I’m not going to offend JUST to offend. I’m not going to egg people on and make people mad just to do so. And I’m not going to bring up a religious discussion between staunch atheists and resolute evangelicals.
It’s all about opening up lines of discussion, whether you’re writing a book, a blog, an ad or a letter. And as consumers (as well as writers) we have a sort of obligation to be a part of that discussion– be it in responding, buying or whatever. Because what’s the point of stating a point if no one is listening to anyone else?
Deb — I think it depends where you are writing and what the purpose of the blog is. If it’s my own blog, I say what I want, however I want to say it. I blog the way I talk, curse words and all. Some people like it, others don’t. Just like when people meet me in person, not everyone is thrilled with my appearance or language. If they like me, great. If not, there’s the door. But the line here is that my blog is primarily for fun. It’s not a business, and my goal isn’t to please everyone in order to obtain better revenue/income or gain a lot of subscribers. When I’m writing for blogs with that goal — clients’ blogs and such — I write the way they want me to write, which generally includes not cussing or talking about my decision not to shave my legs that morning. There are places where pushing the envelope is appropriate and places where it isn’t. Other times, it’s hard to know where to draw the line. For example, although you say you weren’t thrilled with #12’s muse post this round, that post would have fit perfectly on my blog. While I saw that post’s appearance here as “Yay! Things are finally livening up a little at FWJ,” I can see how you would see it as “Oh no, I’m losing visitors, which means losing revenue.”
“Are there ways of getting your message across without going for the shock and awe factor?”
I vote “Yes”. I think some of the best writing in the world for literature and film is so great not because of ’shock and awe’ but because it is the well-crafted and well-executed telling of a story or making of a point.
I believe you can be engaging, thought-provoking, and powerful without resorting to ’shock and awe’.
To me, this is simple–it’s always know your audience, know your purpose. I write mostly educational material and in both reading comprehension and writing courses, “author’s purpose” and “know your audience” are topics that will always be covered. They’re listed in almost every state guideline and there will be questions about them on almost every standardized test. Sure, go ahead, push the envelope, but make sure your’e doing it in the right place and for the right reason (and for the record, ed pub is probably not the right place to do it; the guidelines of don’ts is pretty long).
I feel that as a writer, if I offend one single reader than I have not done my job to the best of my ability. There is a difference between writing and making people *think* and writing to serve your own agenda, without consideration for your readers.
When it comes to freelance jobs, I write for the readers, because I feel I am paid to do that (but, least we forget there are many out there who are paid to write specifically to push the envelope and be more sensational in nature).
I would think that going into any freelance job, you would have an understanding of which side of the line you need to write on before taking on the task.
I think Skippy said it best: “when you know your audience and you know your purpose”. I agree completely. When you know those things, the question of “have I gone to far?”, should never even be an issue.
Nice responses all, thanks.
@Amy – thanks for getting it. There is a large silent majority at FWJ. When they chime in it’s usually to say it’s the negativity that keeps them from commenting or keeps them from coming back. I do have the big picture to consider.
@Aurora – I think one can be edgy and sassy and funny without offending. A great writer knows how to use smaller words to make a bigger impact.
@Skippy – I would say the most important part of freelance writing is knowing your employer, his audience and his vision.
@Dani – Thank you, my sentiments exactly.
@James & Lindsey – It is absolutely about respect. As stated above there are ways to have fun and be creative and edgy without pushing it.I guess I’m just safe that way?
@MJ – Boy do I know from arguing and you’re right. Even if your being safe there are people who will argue and pick apart your work just for the sake of arguing.
I think we all agree there’s a time and a place for everything. I learned the hard way what this community wanted because my traffic started leaving by the busloads. They don’t want to come to a negative environment and so I provide them with a safe haven. I think there’s a difference between being edgy and injecting humor into a piece than there is being edgy for a reaction or create controversy for the sake of traffic.
@Amy – you know, I used to think that way, too, about my personal blog. But once you know who I am and where I write, it’s easy to find it. Therefore, potential clients could find it. I had to make a decision about that blog. I still write about personal things, but I chose to clean up my language. One, my mother might find it and I certainly don’t want to offend her – she doesn’t swear and I respect her so much that I don’t want her to think ill of me. Second, some clients wouldn’t want to hire based on the foul language. We as writers know that we can use different voices, tones, and attitudes in our writing, but the client may not know that. So it has been a personal choice to be selective about my writing while still getting a chance to write for myself.
@James – I have a group of friends that refuses to talk about religion or politics when they’re together. They’ve been friends for many years, and each of them have varying political and religious viewpoints. They credit this topic ban as the reason they’ve been able to remain friends for so long. They are such volatile subjects that many relationships have been damaged by discussing them.