Writing fiction is all about creating conflict. Putting your characters in a crucible. Raising the temperature. This shows your reader what your characters are made of. And one reason we read fiction is to learn how to deal with the conflict in our own lives by living out conflict in somebody elseโs skin.ย
Dialogue is one of your best tools for creating conflict in your fiction. Itโs not your only tool. Youโve also got action, interior monologue, interior emotion, and (sometimes) description.ย
And one of the quickest ways to raise the temperature using dialogue is with a zinger. Let me define what I mean by a zinger. Itโs a short, pithy remark that makes some other character look stupid or exposes their lie.
Thatโs all fine in fiction. In your novel, you have good people and bad people. Theyโre clearly defined. Your protagonist is (usually) one of the good people. Your villain is (almost always) one of the bad people. Your protagonist stands for the right, and your villain stands for the wrong, and a well-aimed zinger is a shot for justice.
So Whatโs Wrong With That?
Nothingโs wrong with that, if you have all the facts. If you know exactly whoโs right and whoโs wrong. And you do know that in a novel, because you created the storyworld. You are the God of your storyworld; you are omniscient; you can set things up so there is a clear right side and a clear wrong side.
And you control how high the temperature goes in your novel. You can set things up with a zinger, and maybe a counterzinger, and maybe even a final countercounterzinger. But when the temperature has risen to just to the right point, you get to decide when to drop it down again. Because youโre God. Itโs your story, so you set the limits. You choose how much mud will be slung, and then you stop the action.
Real life is a little more complicated than that. In real life, you and I are not God. Weโre not omniscient. We sometimes make mistakes. (At least I do; Iโm betting you do too.)
In real life, when we get into an argument, itโs likely that both sides actually have some valid points to make. Because both sides bring different life experiences to the table. You know stuff I donโt. I know stuff you donโt.
Now letโs suppose you and I get into a zinger fight. Letโs say that I simplify your position to make it sound as dumb as possible, and then I shoot a zinger at you. You very rightly get angry that I misrepresented your case, so you respond in kind. You simplify my position to make it sound as dumb as possible, and then you fire a zinger back at me. Maybe you even escalate it a bit. Then I escalate it more with my own zinger.
The problem now is thereโs no limit. We can keep escalating it until everyoneโs furious. God doesnโt usually step in to lower the temperature. Everyone keeps slinging mud until theyโre all covered with it, and theyโve forgotten what the argument was about in the first place.
Zingers raise the temperature without limit. Zingers kill rational discussion. Zingers make real life worse, not better.
Zingers on Social Media
One major problem with social media is that it promotes zingers. The social media algorithms reward and amplify outrage.
Hereโs how it works.
Somebody posts a zinger on a social media platform. Itโs often about religion or politics, and itโs often a meme that simplifies and misrepresents somebody elseโs beliefs into something ridiculous. Then it skewers that misrepresentation.
If nobody responded to the zinger post, it would just die. But if itโs outrageous enough, somebody on the other side will get angry, and theyโll respond with their own zinger. The algorithm notices this and shows it to more people. Then the original poster responds with a new zinger. Thatโs more juice for the algorithm, and it shows the post to more people. And so it escalates.
The more the temperature rises, the more responses the post gets, and the more the algorithm shows it around, and the more people get angry.
Is this sounding familiar?
The social media platforms love outrage, because outrage means engagement, and engagement means eyeballs, and eyeballs mean advertising dollars.
But all that outrage just turns social media into a toxic pit that nobody likes. A place where everyone is angry. Where everyoneโs blood pressure is up. Where the only winner is the billionaire who runs the social media platform.ย
Yeah, But Thereโs Nothing We Can Do About It
Itโs easy to think that we have no control here. Zingers are gonna zing, and we canโt stop them.
Actually, we can do something about it. Anyone can choose to opt out of the zinger lifestyle. Anyone can quench the zingers in their own personal world. Anyone can help make the world a better place.
Anyone can do that by adopting a few simple rules. Here are the ones Iโve adopted recently, which you might find useful.
Rules For a Zinger-Free World
- Donโt post zingers. If you can simplify somebody elseโs beliefs down to just a few words that could be zinged, then you probably donโt understand their beliefs. Real beliefs of real people have nuance. Your beliefs have nuance. Mine do. Everybodyโs do.ย
- When you see a zinger on social media that enrages you, ignore it. If you have an option to hide it, do so. (This will release one of those feel-good chemicals in your brain, so itโs actually good for you.) The algorithm will take note and show you fewer zingers likely to enrage you. And it will also take note that the post got negative engagement, so it may actually show the post to fewer people.ย
- If you post something on social media, and somebody responds with a zinger, ask yourself if you did something to enrage them. If so, then apologize. If not, then delete the zinger. If you know them, send them a message that you donโt allow zingers on your page. If you donโt know them, post a short message saying that you deleted a zinger because you donโt allow zingers on your page.
- If youโre really committed to eliminating zingers, declare your page a zinger-free zone. You may be able to post your own personal rules for a zinger-free world somewhere on your page or your profile. Then you can refer violators to your rules when they complain that you deleted their zinger.
Will Going Zinger-Free Actually Make a Difference?
If you and I are the only people who adopt zinger-free rules, then weโll each benefit personally. Our blood pressure will be lower. Weโll sleep better. Weโll feel happier. These benefits kick in immediately.
But imagine a world in which most people adopt their own personal set of zinger-free rules. Then the world would become a less hateful place. Weโd all be better off. The more people who go zinger-free, the better the world would be. These benefits would take time, because it takes time for new ideas to spread. But the early adopters would benefit most.
Please note that I am not saying nobody should ever discuss controversial ideas. Of course we should. Thatโs how we learn. Thatโs how we change. But you can talk about tough subjects without using zingers. And you can refuse to engage with people who want to zing you.
Thereโs one group who wonโt like the idea of a zinger-free worldโthe billionaires who profit from the outrage. Iโm not too worried about them. I bet you arenโt either.
Are you in? Or do you like things the way they are?
What a poignant article! I want to print it out and nail it to my front door.
Thanks Randy!
Hi Kenton: Glad you liked the article. This approach is working well for me.
I’m with you, Randy! Thanks for a clear-eyed analysis of what’s gone wrong with culture.
Hi Debbie: I like to think that a few writers could make a difference in the world.
Hear, Hear!
Thanks Cathy!
Timely and practical advice. I love how you lay out instructions for using the algorithms to impact the tone of social media. I’m definitely sharing this on my socials!
Thanks for the share!
FWIW, Facebook will not let me post a link to this article. It flags it as “spam” and removes my post!
LinkedIn hasn’t flagged it (yet).
What a bunch of malarkey. Of course youโd write this sniveling snowflake blog post. After all, you invented the snowflake method. Okay, Iโm JUST KIDDING. Thought it would be fun to put a zinger in here just to get your attention. This blog post is great! Iโll be sharing with friends and I love the idea of putting something about a โno-zinger zoneโ on my own website. Thanks, Randy.
Hi Steve: Glad you liked the post. But you need to work on your zingers! That was tame!
Excellent perspective.
Everyone wants to think that they’re the hero of their own story, but that requires that someone else be the villain. Self confirmation bias allows us to fill in the back-story of our villains. The echo chamber of social media allows us to craft zingie burns and pass them around, pretending that the echo chamber is a real ecosystem, where the zinger must stand up to criticism in the light of day.