Hi there!

I saw your link on twitter and wanted to ask you a quick question. So I’ve been working with this friend on a political drama. Unfortunately we can never see eye to eye on anything. He’s a hard-left Liberal and I’m a fairly moderate Republican… or at least I try to be.
Anyway, my problem is that we’re trying to write about a political figure who actually existed and whenever we talk about specific issues with this person, it always seems like he’s not listening to me or he’s cherry-picking parts of what I’ve been saying and neglects the rest.
Let me give you an example:
Me: He was removed because some of the things he said were actually proven to be fake. However, he was spot-on with his condemnation of her.
Him: Oh so you think she should be condemned when the things he said were actually fake? I think we’re done here.
Me: No, I said SOME not ALL! Most of what she did was true!

I’m really starting to think that he’s doing it on purpose. I really want to write this piece, but we’re getting nowhere because of things like this. What should I do?

Thanks,
Niko

Hey Niko,

Thanks for the letter. Honestly, I deal with people like your friend there all of the time. He may be doing it on purpose or he may be trying to think three argument points ahead. Either way, he’s clearly not listening to you. I’ve seen this with hard-liners on both sides of the isle, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to sway them in any direction. They believe what they believe and anyone who believes anything else is morally and ethically wrong and evil. There is no in-between. Take a look at my scale below:

Generally speaking, I’d say most people fall into the small area where purple overlaps either red or blue. Sadly thanks to an unscrupulous and blatantly biased media, everyone thinks that most democrats or republicans fall into line either at the regressive or religious fundamentalist end. They and the politicians they support keep their offices and their paychecks by essentially ripping the United States, nay the entire civil world, apart.
Need an example? Okay, how about the new Ghostbusters movie? It was spun into a political debate where the overall quality of the movie was lost in hyperbole. Sony, the producers, the director, and the media, ran with the narrative that this movie was going to be a positive thing and everyone who saw it was promoting girl power while everyone who refused to, was a misogynist, MRA, etc. etc. and used YouTube trolls as the standard for Geeks and Geek Culture.
The end result was geek culture, yet again, wrongfully taking a hit to it’s credibility, and an angry and rightfully bitter fan base that dismissed anyone who said the movie was good as a regressive feminist or a Sony shill, while anyone who criticized the movie (this is perhaps more blatant), was verbally attacked as being a misogynist and/or a hateful person. These people included James Rolfe, Richard Roeper, and… of all people, known radical left-wing entertainment blogger Bob Chipman. This pretty much lead to a lot of forced reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes, and so on.
I could go on about this, but I spent way too much time covering it in some of my other posts, so feel free to go back and look. I couldn’t be bothered to keep going on the amount of damage that this type of unscrupulous media coverage has done.
Niko, you have my sympathy. Your friend sounds as though he’s probably someone around the regressive left side of the bar. You can try to talk to him and let him know what he’s doing, but I hate to say it, you’re most likely not going to be able to reason with him. These  types of people have usually already been indoctrinated into their beliefs and that is something that is very difficult, if not impossible to break. I’d highly recommend cutting ties with this person and attempting to either finish the story yourself… or find someone between the moderate left and radical left to finish with. These people are usually still willing to listen and open their mind, and that goes the same for the right side of the line.

Thanks Niko, wish I had better news for you. All the best luck on your writing!

Readers, what do you think? Should he try to see eye to eye with his partner or just give up and move on? Let me know in the comments below.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

You can also add me on Twitter!

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim