December 2021 Newsletter
How I Write My Way To Truth
Hello, and welcome to December! If you’re anything like me, you’ve been ready for Christmas for the past fortnight already, but this is the time of year when things really start to get going. Unfortunately, festive excitement isn’t the only thing ramping up this month, with COVID-19 cases and the new Omicron variant also on the rise. Naturally, the media are having a field day with the return of compulsory mask-wearing and the distress it has brought to the country, feeding itself in an endless loop of sensationalism. It’s times like these that I remember why I started writing, and why I continue to do so.
I write for myself, to understand the things around me by putting them into words, capturing a part of them and dissecting them into tiny pieces. The world can be cruel beyond measure, anyone opening a newspaper can see that, and trying to process all the doom and gloom is exhausting. By breaking things down into their bare essentials, we can see through the media scandal, the public hysteria, and the twisted words of politics, to the core of the matter, and only then can we start to truly understand our world.
For me, that means this month will be spent filtering out the shock tactics and focusing on the facts. Yes, Omicron is concerning, but PCR tests still detect it, and social distancing still reduces transmission. If we’re all careful, we can still protect ourselves and our loved ones. Just like that, I’ve written myself out of panic. That’s why I write, to make sense of the madness. It doesn’t change the world, maybe it won’t even change my life, but it helps dismantle the towering pile of “Reasons Things Are Terrible” into more manageable sections.
So how do I do it? More to the point, how can you do it with me? I’ve gathered my top three tips to help you sort the fact from the fiction.
1. Read multiple perspectives. It’s easy to take the news at face value. After all, they’re the ones keeping us informed, surely they have all the facts? Well, yes and no. They have all the facts, but they don’t use them all. All newspapers have some sort of bias. If you can think of a paper that doesn’t, it’s because you have that same bias. The objective truth very rarely fits exactly what they want to present, and so certain aspects have to be brushed under the carpet, reworded, and snuck in between the more favourable truths. If you want all the facts, you’ll need to read other points of view. Whether or not you agree with them, critical thinking and response to different opinions are key skills that will serve you well even outside of your writing endeavours.
2. The statistics can lie. They often do, without you even realising it. If I told you that less than half of the people in my house like strawberries, it sounds like they’re a hugely unpopular fruit. If I took the same information but framed it as “Strawberries are enjoyed by 49% of the people in my house,” the connotations are more strongly in favour of the berry. All of this is before you even begin to look at sample size and investigator bias, but let’s not get distracted. What I’m really trying to say was put best by Mark Twain when he said: “Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.”
3. Check your sources. I know, I sound like your history teacher with a personal vendetta against Wikipedia but hear me out. Unless you are personally conducting research alongside experts, all of your information comes second hand, and that means it’s already been subject to biased interpretations. Always question who’s giving you the information, and why they want you to have it.
Of course, these are just guidelines. Every piece of news is different, and so there will have to be differences in how you approach them, but that’s all part of the fun! I like to consider it a game of investigation; gathering testimonies and comparing them for contradictions, and then finding the nuggets of truth buried in them. Then again, I do always play the Ace Attorney trilogy around Christmastime, so maybe I just have contradictions on the brain!
However you choose to approach the news about COVID-19 restrictions, remember to take care of yourself. A common metaphor is aeroplane oxygen masks: protect yourself before helping others, and as pandemic fatigue sets in, I think it’s important to keep that in mind. If trying to digest the news from every angle is overwhelming, don’t. Just don’t, it’s as simple as that. We’re all muddling through this together, and just because this method works for me doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to do the same for you. There’s no wrong way to handle this, short of actively endangering others, and you’ll know what’s best for you.
On a lighter note, I want to wish you all a very happy holiday season, whatever you may or may not be celebrating. It’s been a strange year for everyone, and I hope that as it draws to a close, we can all find some happiness amongst family and friends. Thank you for joining me on this writing journey, I can’t wait to see what next year brings. Stay warm, stay safe, and stay happy. Bring on 2022!
Libby xx
My Top 5 Reading Recs for the Festive Season
· Christmas with the Savages by Lady Mary Clive — A fictionalised account of the author’s childhood Christmas spent at her mother’s ancestral home, told through the eyes of Evelyn, a prim 8-year-old who would really rather be anywhere else. Funny and charming, with plenty of Christmas spirit!
· The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell — A series of diary entries kept by the owner of The Bookshop in Wigtown, full of dry wit, eccentric customers, and even more eccentric staff. A cosy read for any book lover!
· The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden — a fantastical fairy tale, full of Russian folklore about a young woman whose town is being overrun with dark magic. As the town turns to the Orthodox Church and their misguided priest for protection, it is up to her to find the Frost King and return the traditions of old to her home. Set in the Russian winter, the snowy description will leave you reaching for a mug of hot chocolate!
· The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey — A touching story, full of magical realism, about a couple learning to love again after a tragedy. Charmingly tender and domestic with elements of the ethereal, this poignant novel with linger in your heart long after you’ve closed the book!
· The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis — You surely couldn’t expect me to neglect such a classic at this time of year! It hardly needs describing, just put on your warmest coat and tumble through the wardrobe into a fantasy land of fauns, witches, and a familiar man in a red robe!
