Martian Thoughts

Commercial and literary needs

Marketers need us to want as many things as possible. The more we want, the more they sell. Thus, in this age of mass information and total access, it’s hard to be bored. Those who are easily excited and cultivate a perennial curiosity are especially vulnerable to such siren singing.

When writing a story, we may be tempted to introduce new characters and locations. Admittedly, characters and locations can move the story forward effectively and entertaining the reader. However, if we tip the balance and abuse the trick, an excess of characters and locations will soon render the story illegible. At this point, it pays to zoom out and reconsider the message we seek to convey. Once that is the centre of our concern, we will likely discover it is much more effective to tell the same tale and portray the same facts through existing protagonists and places.

The same logic applies to surviving the constant marketing barrage. It is worth stopping and reflecting for a couple of seconds. It doesn’t take much longer to look around and wonder what we want and whether we must buy the next thing to satisfy our needs.