One book I highly recommend for writers is called:
“Bandersnach”
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 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 book 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 broke up.
By contempt I mean not 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 encourage 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, often due to a shrieking SJW who doesn’t want its feelings hurt.
Bottom line:
Conflict in a community is usually good.
Contempt?
Not so much.
All right, on to the business.
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Ben Settle
