For Thorough Thursday, I was going to write about some of the connections between mining futures for our so-called “green energy” economy, and the vast political power-plays they serve. It’s an important topic, because financial journalism is often shrouded in lingo and business priorities that make it difficult for everyday readers to understand the big-picture implications. (Not least of which: why so many states are unable or unwilling to commit more fully to climate change reforms.)
But I’ve also been having a tough time finishing my Thorough Thursdays promptly this past month or so. It’s not that I’m not working on them; it’s that I’m having trouble letting them go when the topic I’m tackling is too big.
And let’s face it: they’ve all been too big, as of late.
Sometimes I just need more time to sit with the data. Sometimes I realize that my first stab at an overarching argument doesn’t hold. Sometimes I’m not satisfied with how I’ve tried to make a tough topic accessible. Sometimes I’m stuck on a conclusion—too saccharine? too miserable for the sake of being miserable?
You get the drift.
On top of which, yesterday I launched the serialization of my latest SF novel, a wartime space opera (not the same as military SF) inspired by Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War. You can listen to and/or read the first two chapters on Patreon, although all future segments will be for Patrons only. (I’d love to set them up behind paywall here, and port over all interested subscribers to this list, but I’m still wrestling with obligatory payment issues to set up the second account, so one step at a time.)
You can read more about the project at the link embedded in this promo ad:
Suffice it to say, then, it’s been a busy week.
And my first stab at Thorough Thursday is still an info-dump mess of market facts, gripes over financial journalism, and detours into a national economic contexts.
So, this sprawling piece on minerals and global politics is going to be split up for Monday Media Review and Tough Times Tuesday instead: media literacy comments on Monday, and the nitty-gritty of international market issues on Tuesday.
Instead, for paid subscribers, I’m offering a different sort of essay to close off the week: a reflection on the danger of taking all this writing work too seriously.
Does it matter that we strive for accurate, precise, inclusive, and empowering prose?
Sure. (What a concept!)
But sometimes a writer forgets the forest for the trees, and gets too caught up in “process” at cost to the reason we’re here at all.
After all, this whole exercise of sharing words on the screen isn’t going to change the world. What I write here, on a teeny tiny newsletter of minor reach, isn’t going to bring a halt to world wars, or stave off awful economic and environmental practices.
The best I can hope for is to provide a little clarity and a few resources to others struggling to make sense not only of the crisis we’re moving through, but also the media forums that leverage our stress, cults of celebrity, and scientific and historical illiteracy for their own commercial gains—and which routinely leave us feeling even less empowered to protect our democracies and support our own in the process.
And yet, how am I supposed to do even that much good for the world, if I’m too caught up in the writing process to show up consistently for my little corner of it?
So for those who won’t be joining me below the fold, I offer this gentle reminder:
What we contribute to our communities matters.
But when we’re so caught up in trying to perfect everything, we lose touch with what makes our contributions important in the first place.
Make time to step outside your workflow, and who knows?
What you stand to lose in the way of self-importance around “the work” might be filled in with a better, healthier perspective about how to live well at all.
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