Derrida contrasts the foregrounding, or ‘fetishization’, of the author figure with what he wanted to understand as central to writing: ‘writing’, he says, ‘means to withdraw oneself’.

— Derrida: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Simon Glendinning (US) (UK)

We’re always told that such an attitude is born of a bygone era. Authors have, to some extent, to be performative, and the exceptions to the rule either made their bones pre-internet or have teams of people being performative on their behalf. Authors are directly instructed to use social media, and desired to be available to the audience like a one-person helpline.

It was never a problem. It did me good. But now I have to change my daily routine, and I was thinking about this yesterday while clomping through my morning 2.5-mile walk. I’m not didactic about being “off” or “on” the internet, and have often taken periods away from the public internet without needing to proclaim an all-in “digital detox” or whatever last year’s article pitch was. And I’m never going to be one who is judgmental about fetishes.

Changes are here, though, and changes are coming. I’m a storyteller by nature, and I don’t get to withdraw: but building a shelter ahead of the weather and off the main road seems like a wise thing to do. There’s rain coming over the estuary this morning, and soon the nights will draw in again and it’ll get cold for a good long time.