Okay, you know that guy. He might have been a old buddy from high school, or maybe it's somebody you sort of know from work, but don't really hang out with. Either way, when he sent you that facebook friend request, you didn't think twice about accepting it.
It started off well, just like most online relationships do. You laugh at his memes, you go "awe" at the pictures of his kids and cats, you nod your head when he complains about traffic and the weather.
But then it happens. Something in the news pisses him off. Suddenly your facebook wall is full of nothing but rants from him. "How could John Boehner be such an idiot?" or "Why hasn't Obama been impeached?" or whatever.
You might agree, or you might disagree, but either way, you don't really care. You click "unfollow" and decide you'll check back in a few weeks to see if he's gone back to posting pictures of his food like everyone else in the world.
It might take longer than a few weeks, but eventually you do go back and check him out, just to see if his cute cats and funny memes have returned. Nope. Still politics. Nothing but politics. And some weird shit about Beyonce and the Illuminati. Anyhow, you still don't care; they guy is still off the deep end, so you just cut the cord and click "unfriend" and that's the end of it.
So what does that have to do with writing?
Well, you tell me.
Here you are, a guy trying to get a start writing fiction. You've got a couple of somewhat respectable publications out there and have build a tiny, yet loyal following. You've got a blog with decent traffic and a couple of thousand followers on twitter.
And then it happens. Just like your facebook friend earlier in this post, something in the news sets you off. And you just
have to blog about it. Some current event that really doesn't affect you at all--regardless of how much your favorite media outlet tells you it does--makes you so angry, that everyone around you, both in the real world and online, must share in your anger.
You pace around. You write an angry, yet heartfelt piece about it, and then share it with the world. You feel great. Your mission in life is complete. You go to bed, happy to have done your part to complain about that horrible piece of news that will ruin the world.
Oh, and you also pissed off half of your audience.
"What?" you ask with disbelief. "My audience doesn't share my exact political views? For shame."
It's true. In fact, I'd go so far as to say a political rant from a new writer can turn off 2/3 of the audience. One-third will agree, one-third will disagree, and one-third won't care. They only what pictures of your food and cats (or in this case, your writing.)
Now, I'm not saying "don't write politics." What I am saying is "don't piss off your audience."
If you're going to write fiction AND political commentary, I think it's a risky thing to do. I'd say you're better off just picking whichever one is more important and making that one the focus of your writing, but if you want to do both, make sure you do it the right way.
If writing fiction is most important, make sure your online presence focuses solely on fiction. Establish yourself as a
fiction writer. You can do some politics stuff on the side, but make sure it's not done in a way that will look like you're forcing it on your audience. Find another appropriate venue for it, like a politics blog. Then your guest posts / columns there can have your bio and links to your fiction stuff.
Likewise, if you want to primarily write political commentary, make that the focus of your writing. You can still do fiction on the side. Maybe even make it agenda-driven fiction. If you've got a decent sized readership of you political stuff, than you're fiction will have a potential built-in audience. But if politics is your game, always keep it at the front line of your goals.
I suppose I come off as a little preachy here, but it's the truth as I see it. If your purpose in writing fiction is to entertain and you get too political, you
will lose fans. Look at all the "controversy" surrounding Orson Scott Card. Do you think he would have had a shot making it in this day and age if he wasn't already so established and successful? I think not.
