Conflict vs Contempt

One book I highly recommend for writers is called: “Bandersnach” And it’s mostly about J.R.R. Tolkien & C.S. Lewis and their time in the writers group they founded called The Inklings that met for some 20 years. It talks about some of the other members, too. But the spotlight is mostly on Tolkien and Lewis — which is what I like about it, personally, having grown up on Lord of the Rings & Narnia. Lots of good advice inside for writers. Including copywriters. There’s also some insights for community-building. For example: The inklings was like a mastermind but was also a community. And without it the Lord of the Rings especially would be quite different. In fact, Tolkien fans can thank C.S. Lewis for it being written at all. Lewis basically had to nag & prod Tolkien into finishing it. Yet, Tolkien had an extreme… dislike… for Lewis’ Narnia books. And so there was certainly some conflict there. But what there was not between them was contempt. It was always mutual respect, with an “iron sharpening iron” effect, and the two helped each other in so many ways I am not even sure there is a book that could possibly cover every single way they did so without it being probably a 2,000 page tome of its own. All the Inklings had this dynamic to some degree. And it wasn’t until the conflict started turning into contempt when the group disbanded. By "contempt" I am not talking about honest disagreement. I am talking about literally trying to shut someone down altogether. It’s a very insidious effect. And I would not be shocked if that is how many masterminds end. Certainly a lot of social media platforms have encouraged it. Not only by the nature of what the bigger platforms do to some people, but the very rules and biases of some of these platforms feed into it, shutting whole discussions, posts, and even entire accounts down instead of letting natural and healthy conflict arise, sharpen, repel, strengthen, and humble as it should - most often due to a shrieking blue haired social activist sob sister or low T white knighting mush cookie who doesn’t want their feelings hurt or their opinions challenged. Bottom line: Conflict in a community is good. It's also probably the best way ever invented for getting engagement. But contempt? Not so much. So that’s that. Speaking of social, if you want to follow my antics on Twitter go here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/twitter]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2023 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA