A boring writer is governed by caution, timidity, and/or conventional guardrails. What comes out is usually a consensus view that says “I’m not entirely sure who or what I am but I do know who or what I don’t want to SOUND like so in order to play it safe I’m going to wear a cloak of deference…an attitude performance that conveys pseudo-fairness. When in doubt it’s always better to project what sounds like impartiality.”
A strong, distinctive writer is guided by self-trust. This is how Patti Smith operated during her ‘70s and ‘80s heyday when she would impulsively riff on this or that subject. If you trust your gut, you usually go where it leads you without fear or favor. Your gut tells you that a basic instinctual reaction or perception that’s stirring within is mostly worth sharing or at least toying with and/or exploring for the hell of it. Or, in Don Logan-ese, “the bolt and the buzz of it.”
What your tedious consensus slowboats (i.e., often repped by wokerati) may regard as masturbatory or wanker-esque is, 85% or 90% of the time, in fact a form of swan-dive bravery. All writing needs refinement and clarification, of course, but the best writing always starts with a faith in gut instinct…always think it through and discard the blather, but you’re nothing if you don’t trust what your heart may be telling you deep down.
AI Florence Pugh therefore reps a sadly tedious mentality.
