/lit/ - Literature

The other profitable avenue is turning his literary interests from reading to writing. It is not difficult to see why this approach may be successful. Reading is by nature dangerous to our efforts: it binds men to one another across time and space, humbles their hearts and minds, and breaks them out of their own skulls, if only for a few hours. Writing, while not without its own risks, does the opposite. It tends to focus a man in upon himself, feed his pride, and reinforce his own sense of self-importance. If you can convince your patient to write, he will likely begin to suspect he is quite good at it. He will come to believe his thoughts are profound; do not be surprised if he extends this new high-opinion of himself to the other aspects of his life. He will wallow in self-pity or rage at not receiving the success and accolades he believes are his due. He will grow envious of other writers, whom he will begin to suspect are not nearly as talented as he is. He may even give up hope, which is most delicious of all. But do not allow these tasty morsels to distract you from your higher purpose. These things should have the more important effects of keeping him from reading (because he believes his own works are superior), from relationships with other human beings (because they cannot, or will not, appreciate his talent), and most of all from the Enemy (because the man of genius has no use for him). In this way, Wormwood, you may see your patient come, as so many artists have come before him, to dwell in Our Father’s House.

The risks of writing are easy enough to manage, so long as you remain vigilant. If you begin to notice ideas about love or truth creeping in, for instance, remind him that those kind of things are old-fashioned, and that real literature does not deal with them, at least not without irony (here again you are fortunate that he posts on /lit/). It also cannot hurt to encourage his vanity. Let him develop a romantic idea of the author as a mysterious hero (I say a romantic idea, but here you must be very careful; nothing is so dangerous to your goal as real Romance) and convince him to devote time to consciously acting more and more like the moody, ironic, smoking picture he has in his head. In this way, he can be led away from dangerous creativity and towards a kind of dutifully rebellious conventionality. Above all, just as he must never read for pleasure, never let your patient write merely for its own sake. One slack evening on your part may see his pen wander off and get captured by the Enemy, and then all your efforts will be for nothing. Even worse, his book may be published, and then imagine how many men will read it and be lost forever! I do not need to tell you what punishments would be yours if you let such a thing happen.

Still, these risks are well-worth the delightful reward. I look forward to learning more of your patient’s development.

Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape