The Good Enemy Technique: How You Can Use What Drives You Crazy To Come Up With Meaningful Topics Readers Will Love
By Thea Fiore Bloom, PhD
Ever worry the topic you’ve picked is boring?
Does the worry get so huge that it sometimes results in zero writing?
You’re not alone.
What Makes For Boring Writing Anyway?
Boring writing doesn’t come about because of lack of talent.
Boring writing (or art) comes about because of fear.
We need to take our focus off our fear of being laughed at, and retrain it on what our reader needs.
But how?
Got any anger lying around?
Meeting The Good Enemy
When I realize my topic could be used as a sleep aid I sometimes turn to a technique called “The Good Enemy.”
Back in 2010 I was desperate to finish the outline for my doctoral thesis.
But I was stalled by fear and hiding behind bland chapter topics.
Professor Ginette Paris suggested I try to stop concentrating on what I agreed with and start focusing on what ticked me off about certain author’s take on my topic.
“Push against the theory of others to find your own; think of other writers you disagree with as good enemies,” Paris said.
Next day I tentatively started typing on a standard take on my topic that always infuriated me.
I didn’t stop typing for 6 months.
When it finally came time for my defense I was dumb struck to see many audience members laughing with me- not at me. Some were even crying over the interview-based material; material that blossomed out of my indignation at what past scholarship overlooked when it came to soul.
Three morals of the story here:
1. If I can do it you can do it.
2. If you care about something enough to be aggravated about it, there’s a great chance you are not the only one who feels that same pain. Take a chance on expressing something others think but never get to see in writing.
3. Our annoyance at a societal norm or another’s art or writing can act as a big red arrow that says “dig here for YOUR original idea.”
Need more proof that frustration can be a cure for fear-based topic selection?
How Ents and Elves Were Born From Tolkien’s Beef With Shakespeare
Look no farther than what J.R.R. Tolkien birthed as a result of his aggravation with Shakespeare.
Shakespeare’s decision to depict the traditionally intelligent elves/fairies of ancient folklore as whimsical airheads in A Midsummer Night’s Dream made Tolkien want to tear his ear hair out.
But instead of depilating himself, Tolkien used Shakespeare as “The Good Enemy.”
J.R.R.’s frustration became the creative fire that fueled his restoring of elves/fairies to what he saw as their rightful place as intelligent, noble beings in the eye of the public.
He accomplished this via his Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Tolkien also invented the Ents in direct reaction to what he viewed as Shakespeare’s big cop out in “Macbeth.”
Our writing goals may not be as grand as Tolkien’s but our work can be authentic and lively if we occasionally ask ourselves:
What am I ticked off at and what can I create about it ?
The Good Enemy Technique in 3 Easy Steps
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You know that little notebook all creatives are supposed to carry to jot down inspirations? Put it to use to hastily record mini-rants as well.
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When you need a topic, whip out your big, cheap spiral notebook; free write on what you initially scribbled out in the mini-rant notebook. (Try writing for 5 minutes on what artist/writer/person x included in their words or work that made you mad. Or try 5 minutes on what material you think that artist/writer/person x omitted to include or misrepresented in their work.
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Now finish off by writing for 10 minutes on what would you would have liked to have seen instead and why. Your topic will emerge from this section and you may never need to mention the original source of the aggravation in your piece.
The Joy of Embracing Your Surly Side
It’s fun not to always fight negative thoughts. It’s a relief not to judge yourself for getting annoyed by our “negativity.”
Fortunately for us creatives, negativity is everywhere.
So why not retrain your brain to be on the lookout for new material?
Next time you encounter a thought that makes you want to break crockery, don’t be so quick to shoo it away.
Tell your mind what my friend Briz always says to actual people at the coffee shop:
“Hey, if you got nothing good to say — come sit next to me. ”
— Doug Briz
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This post is dedicated to Doug Briz and his beautiful wife Sally Hampton, two of the funniest people I’ve ever met.
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Are you up for exploring a little negativity? Why or why not?
Is it easy for you to come up with topics? What method seems to work for you?
Tell me in the COMMENTS below! 🙂
I think that is part of it. We are supposed to be writing because we WANT to express it – not cause it’s part of a class. There are some artists who think art should be spontaneous and flow-y without much effort and study…I am not one of those people…But I fell into that mind set with writing! I think it may be from lack of knowledge and experience lol…When you know what it means to write a good chunk of words (like you) you know that it’s a fact of life that you have to work at it and there will be drafts!
Thanks again 😀
Right and if “we want to express it”, there is an assumption it should be easy. But the things we care most about are often the hardest to express. I sometimes tell dissertation students (even the ones who are already strong writers) to consider picking a topic they are fascinated by but emotionally neutral about. When we care about something so deeply we have great expectations. Perfectionism quickly settles in like a fog and can block any writing from occurring at all.
I love this! I am not an artist but more political satire and performance art type of gal. So I rage about everything! I have so much material and more every day. An example is turn signals. I made a sign that said, The stick on your steering column is a turn signal. I stood next to the street with that. I’m about to do that again! I’m a walking, billboard rage machine.
LMAO! What the hell is it with people not signaling in L.A.? Is it an entitlement thing? See now I am starting to rant!
I got you!
Of course what a great idea to use channeled anger to come up with subjects for theatre as well. Never thought of applying it to the acting medium but would hold true in the writing of one woman shows especially I think. Good on you.
OMG gorgeus pics!!! I know that wasn’t the point…. More soon after I process. lol
Thanks Gale, wouldn’t it be nice to be in the shire right about now?
Hey!! This is a great idea – I have tons of negativity lol …sigh. But I always worry about ranting because I’m afraid that people will be offended or something. I mean everyone is so politically correct these days that it’s hard to say much…here comes the rant XD…
Do you think it’s a good thing to share strong views on topics even if not everyone will agree – in a way I guess at least you are saying SOMETHING…right?
What is your opinion on political correctness? I really hate it to be honest but I understand that especially online you have to be careful – it’s not like I want to get people angry for no reason, how do you balance this?
man I think you just found my never ending source of content – haha. Well that is, if I have the courage to share it.
This is a great question Kikoe. I neglected to include this very point in the post. Thanks for bringing it up.
I love ranting but I don’t do it in public. The big question here may be who do you want as your ideal reader or art buyer? What is your kind of reader going to benefit the most from? If your artwork is completely politically incorrect and controversial it might be fine to just go buck wild on the page. However, if your art is not exactly along those lines, to just free-form rant and hit publish may cut your potentially potent piece off at the knees. The controversy one generates with full on rants doesn’t necessarily stimulate people— as much as it TRIGGERS people. Shock jocks make a living off this, facebook is rife with it, but artists who want to build a non-manic mailing list may want to aim more for the middle road. For us, the topic gold seems to be a result of going to the trouble of extracting a few strong sassy sentences from our mostly circular rant. Those sentences can form your subheadings for your post or even act as your outline for it. Then you fill in that outline with rational post-rant back up sentences that contain good information. Information Like: your opinion calmly explained with back up anecdotes, facts you have found, quotes from someone you have interviewed, questions to the reader, etc. Yes—more work. But the end product will be good copy you will be proud of even years later. Hope that answers your questions. 🙂
I mean I don’t like art/writing that is controversial on purpose just for it’s own sake – I think of that as “trolling” or just asking for reactions.
I guess what I meant was ” how do you share an opinion that isn’t wishy washy (because you are afraid of offending someone) ” – Which you already answered so thank you!
I am beginning to think of writing more like painting, there is a “sketch” stage for writing which is probably what I’ve been posting…but I could be refining and backing it up alot more.
Brilliant metaphor! Can I steal that? lol. Exactly, exactly, exactly. There is a big messy-ass sketch stage. You don’t have to publish the sketch. You work it, until it’s a painting. You got it. 🙂
haha! of course ;D
This should have been more obvious to me, I don’t know why I expect writing to be magical and perfect on the first draft!! I’ve written essays for school / uni – those were re-written so many times!!
You may be on to something here.Perhaps we all think our art writing should be different, more effortless than our writing for school or work. Why do we think that? What do you think? Maybe we unconsciously assume art writing like is supposed to come out effortlessly because it’s sourced from a pure, direct place?