No Sensitivity Training, Thank you.

Enough already.

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I should have a choice of what words I tag myself within my writing, especially when it had everything to do with the title of my substack article. If you prefer the term seasoned over senior or older adult, I'm willing to accommodate you if you're a senior. However, If I call myself old and you find that offensive, we have a problem.

We live in a time when little good humor or appreciation for satire or sarcasm exists. I'm sixty-nine years old or young, hence the article's title, I'm Old. Get it? They didn't. They suggested in an email that I post an article about sensitivity training for writers. It would be helpful to my readers, they said. I laughed at that one. What do you think? Do the readers of this substack newsletter need the training, or do I? That's what I thought, too. I thought it was a way to tell me I needed the training without coming out and saying so. If they felt it would be valuable to share with everyone, they could have left it under the comments section of this newsletter. However, I do think sensitivity writing guidelines can have value for many non-fiction writing situations. However, when it comes into fiction writing you have to be careful. Do I want my villain, the president of the local motorcycle club going all soft on me, becoming empathetic, flexible and sensitive? No, I do not. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps in book two if I decide to redeem him.

This situation aligns with two other articles I read last weekend, inspiring me to write this piece.

Why am I churned up? Because of what I perceive as continued harassment of artists, writers, and musicians' freedom of expression, How individuals are forced to communicate and create, leads to boring writing, music, and art. Read Art is Boring if you aren't convinced.

How many times did you consider taking certain lines out of the novel you're writing because it might "offend" someone? If you removed every line from your stories that might offend someone, I would suggest the narrative would be pretty short, and no one will be interested in reading it. I hope I haven't offended you, but now that I have, you can cancel me. The Party is Cancelled. The thing is, it's so damn easy to offend someone these days; look at me. I'm offended by someone hinting that I needed sensitivity training. HA! As a writer, you should appreciate the irony of this situation.