Thread by @Joannechocolat

Okay, so a lot of you are asking for #TenTweets about writing in the face of the increasing grimness of the world. It's something I think about too, so let's do it. No miracle insights guaranteed, though. We're living in dystopian times. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

First, a little story. My great-aunt lived in Paris, and had a pretty awful life. Once married to the manager of the Lido, she'd been very wealthy for a time, and was friends with all kinds of famous people, like Edith Piaf and Picasso. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

But her husband, who was younger than she was, left her for a Bluebell girl, and her adored only son left her after having cleaned out her bank account and stolen all the furniture and valuables in her flat. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

She was left with no money, no qualifications and no job. She ended up working as a cleaner, on a minimum wage. But she never let her poverty show, or complained about the way she'd been treated. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

She always wore pink and white, looked very elegant, wore Chanel no. 5 and enjoyed all the little things in life she could afford. She used to say: "In my world you've only got two choices. You can either be fabulous or shoot yourself in the head." #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

1. So, to all the ones of us who are depressed at the idea of trying to write fictional worlds when the real one is so unremittingly shitty: BE FABULOUS. The alternative sucks. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

2. I think this current era will spawn a great deal of amazing dystopian fiction. I also think that we might to need to wait for that kind of thing to feel like fiction again before we can really enjoy it. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

3. Writing is an escape in just the same way that reading is. If you feel that you're taking yourself into a fictional place too dark for the good of your mental health, then maybe it's time to go somewhere else. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

4. Sometimes we can feel cathartic by defeating our real-life monsters in our fiction. But sometimes, and with some ubiquitous monsters, it can feel better to erase them altogether from the narrative. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

5. There can be a lot of pleasure in defeating monsters (and by this I mean Trump, Brexit, misogyny, etc) by actually writing about something else. Cats. Gardening. Cake. Folding towels in a a pleasing an orderly way. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

6. And though it's marvellous to see so much of the literature of rebellion and revenge around - it can sometimes also feed into a narrative that tells us that violence - getting revenge, getting power, kicking ass - solves pretty much everything. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

7. Because here's the thing. We're writers. We're not here to solve pretty much everything. That's not our job. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

8. Sometimes a powerful story can feed a political or social movement, and change the way people view the world. And that's great. But sometimes it can provide a much-needed escape from the brutality and corruption of current events. Which is also good. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

9. Resistance can also be beauty, and kindness, and laughter, and fun. Those things matter even more now, and fiction that relies on them for its effect is no less relevant, or part of the resistance, than the grimdark, kickass kind. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

10. Because authors have an amazing power. We can literally choose how to furnish our world. If there's too little love, or kindness, or humility, or diversity, or inclusivity in the world, we can actually PUT MORE IN. And maybe that's what we all need. #TenWaysToCopeWithReality

So maybe it's time to dust ourselves down, and put down the gun, and be fabulous. Monsters hate that. They hate being ignored. They hate people having a good time. Sometimes they despise it so much that they disappear altogether... #TenWaysToCopeWithReality