2016 was a crazy year in the political world, to say the least. With the debates and finally the election, the country was divided into both red and blue sided uproars over the election results. As the clock struck 12 for 2017, I hoped that the stress of the election would soon be left in 2016 along with other frustrating 2016 trends, such as the mannequin challenge and bottle flipping. But oh was I wrong.
Things were quieter than usual for a bit, and I began to believe that maybe my wish came true. Then Meryl Streep gave her much-applauded Golden Globes speech, an acceptance speech which she inappropriately chose to turn into a political statement.
Perhaps there might never exist a 2017 where politics won't dominate every article, conversation, and TV program. Still, I am among the persevering few who will try to fight against every single urge to write an article on my political views. Why? Because no one cares to hear my opinion, so I choose to keep my Odyssey platform as non-political as I can (well, with a few slips here and there).
So, instead of sharing my point of view on recent events such as Obama’s farewell speech and President Trump’s coming inauguration, I’ve compiled a list of topics to any fellow writers who want to subtly write ideas on politics.
1. Write about why you don’t write about politics
I’ve written something similar to this in my article My Opinion On Opinions, where I talked about the struggle of writing from a different point of view as everyone else. Sometimes nowadays it feels like it's better to keep quiet than to let your voice be heard. Write an article on why you’ve chosen not to share your political views. How do you feel about politics? What keeps you from publishing your thoughts?
2. Write about an event, but not with a political perspective
Say you would like to write about Meryl Streep’s speech at the Golden Globes. Perhaps, instead of arguing or agreeing with her statements about President-elect Trump, write about her speech with a different perspective. How did her message resonate? Was there something she said that stuck out? Instead of focussing on her ideas, maybe focus on how she translated them through her speech.
3. Subtle hints
Since politics are practically an inescapable topic, even I find it hard not to throw in subtle jabs in my writing that hint at my political views. If you feel really strongly about a topic but don’t want to go full-throttle and write an entire article on it, maybe write something else, but give a subtle hint that the attentive reader can notice but the ignorant one might ignore.\
4. Personal work (Essays, poems, etc.)
Do you have a personal essay that addresses a sensitive topic? Or perhaps a poem where you share your ideas? These are often better platforms for sharing controversial opinions (such as political opinions) because they allow for more figurative language that can soften the topic.
Politics are a tricky topic to write about. The best advice I can give as a writer who often chooses not to write about politics, is that if you're going to do it, do it all with class and respect.
