My Writing on Ironic Writing

An essay type writing on why I use irony in my writing.

I think ironic writing is a necessary element for story-telling and although I am not a serious writer(writing is a hobby to me and I hope that one day I will have enough guts to attempt to publish) I just might have some relevant things to say on this subject matter. But before I tell you why, I want to clear up a misconception people make about writers who use irony. One common criticism of ironic writing is that irony is a defensive mechanism for the writer to purposely detach himself or herself from the literary work. This is done so the writer can cope with harsh criticism and he can tell himself “well that’s fine I wasn’t trying to write professionally anyway, I was being ironic.” This is certainly one possible purpose for ironic writing but it is certainly not the only purpose. If this is the first thing you think about when you see ironic writing, ask yourself why this is the first possibility that popped into your mind. For all you know you might be just projecting your own insecurities on the ironic writer. I use a lot of irony in my writing and I am writing this to give you a new perspective on ironic writing. My inspiration for using ironic elements comes from various authors and philosophers. I am influenced by Douglas Coupland’s writing and the writing of other post-modernist authors. I also like how Slavoj Zizek presents his philosophy, because you can rarely tell if he is serious or joking. So now I want to say a few words on why I think this ironic element is important for story-telling. I think we tell stories because in these stories we look for new perspectives on the human condition. Literature is interesting because literature can tell us something about ourselves that we previously haven’t explored. However the creative work of literature cannot be a random sequence of words and events, it has to tell us something valuable and authentic about ourselves. Otherwise how do we distinguish literature from a random string of sentences? Why should the fiction of a nobel laureate be any more valuable than a story written by a 4 year old child? I think there is something very valuable and authentic in ironic writing as long as the ironic writing is not ironic for the sake of being ironic. That is the irony serves no external purpose. This is what I call shallow irony or hipster irony. It is irony for the sake of irony. But when I write I like to use irony for a very different reason. I usually use irony when a character in my story is the first person narrator and when the story is set either in present times or in the future. Here is why I do this, think about how you feel at work every day, think of how you spend your life day to day. Unless you have the privilege of living an unusually exciting life you are probably stuck working a job which you are not very passionate about, not only that, you’ve been at it for years hoping to get that promotion which always seems to be just out of reach. Your boss is a d****e and he takes all the credit for your work. And even if you were passionate about doing your work I think it’s safe to assume that you are not doing something incredible for humanity. For instance if you are working in sales, the world is still going to continue to turn whether you sell that instant margarita maker or not. So even if you were passionate about your position as an instant margarita maker salesman it’s really hard to take you seriously no matter how hard you try to take yourself seriously. Irony describes the authentic human experience of the 21st century worker. The worker whose labor is pointless, unrewarding, mechanical and routine. It is the voice of a person who recognizes the absurdity of his condition and doesn’t attempt to divert your attention with consumerist symbols of status or ideological manipulation. It is not the voice of a person who attempts to manipulate and control your thoughts and emotions with a severe authoritarian/totalitarian tone kind of like what I am doing right now. Instead irony presents an opportunity for the reader to actively reevaluate the condition of the character by detaching the narrator’s authority from his own words. Assuming that you are like most of us, meaning life has shoved you in a position where you spend most of your life working a routine, uncreative job in a cubicle somewhere. Meaning you spend most of your life dealing with people who make you scratch your head and think “what the f**k?” Are you seriously going to tell me that your thoughts about your mundane existence are going to be completely serious and devoid of irony? If you answered yes, please let me know what you are so serious about, is it your dead end job? Is it the fact that you are not doing anything special for humanity and the world would be just fine without you? Or is it just your nihilistic egotism, that tells you to take yourself seriously because you have an ego? This is why my first person narratives are full of ironic writing. Hopefully this changed your perspective on ironic writing, and hopefully next time you read “serious” narratives you can switch your perspective and see them the way I see them. I see them as inauthentic and I see them as a joke.    

Author's Note

Make sure to read the words.

Reviews

[Mockingbird]

this was very informative. i'm not a writer but i do like ironic writing. i like the twist at the end and how it gives you a whole new perspective you didn't know was out there.i had no idea people write just for the sake irony itself and i didn't know that it isn't a justifiable reason to write irony. this is sort of what i gleaned from this please. please correct me if i am off.

i look for advice any where i can get it. i am new to writing short stories, or in my case, short, short stories. i am presently working on a piece which i think would only be interesting if it were ironic, so i guess i'm one of those shallow writers . i'm having trouble coming up with a proper ending because i want it to have an ironic ending, so i've abandoned it for now.

thank you for writing this writing on ironic writing. i could use a good mentor to point me in the right direction.
take care,
moc

[Budimir Zdravkovic]

Thank you for the review. Let me know if you want me to review this story you are writing. I would be glad to read and let you know what I think and also give you an opinion on an ending I think would be suitable for the story.

[Mockingbird]

hi. thanks for wanting to read my story. it falls apart towards the end. someone told me it needs more room for a story like that. i wanted to give hints about him concerning his past, that he was unstable man. you could tell i was trying so hard to give it irony. i really appreciate your criticism.

[Mockingbird]

oh, by the way, the story i am talking about is 'nimo pratt.'