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September 27, 2021

What Is Cargo Cult Writing and Why It’s Damaging

Society, Writing

fallacy, ignorance, post hoc, society, writing

A cargo cult is a belief system in which a group of people – typically indigenous tribes in contact with a technologically advanced culture – perform imitative rituals expecting a deity to offer them, too, the same technology. So far so good. But what about cargo cult writing?

Allow me first to talk a bit more about cargo cults, because the essence is important in understanding what is cargo cult writing and why it’s damaging to you as an author.

As Wikipedia informs us, although the phenomenon is older, it began to be noticeable in Pacific islands after WW2, when isolated cultures came in contact with American and Japanese expeditionary forces that arrived (by air) in great numbers and with advanced logistical support :

After the war, the soldiers departed. Cargo cults arose, attempting to imitate the behaviors of the soldiers, thinking that this would cause the soldiers and their cargo to return. […] Cult behaviors usually involved mimicking the day-to-day activities and dress styles of US soldiers, such as performing parade ground drills with wooden or salvaged rifles. The islanders carved headphones from wood and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses.

The concept of a cargo cult is often used as a metaphor to describe any activity where one imitates something without understanding it, expecting the same result. In some vague sense, it’s a post-hoc fallacy. “I saw a black cat and then I tripped and fell. It’s the black cat’s fault, so I better avoid black cats”.

As for cargo cult writing, you might have already guessed it: It’s when an author imitates what others do without realizing why or how, expecting similar results. Let’s see the various ways this can happen, and how to avoid it.

cargo cult writing
“Ernest Hemingway used a typewriter, so I need to use one too if I want to be a successful writer”. This simplistic example of cargo cult writing might sound ridiculous (because it is), but other manifestations are more insidious

How Cargo Cult Writing Begins

Writers and artists imitate each other all the time (you can find a delightfully intriguing double meaning in the previous sentence, by the way). That is, every writer – this one included – begins by admiring another writer’s work and imitating it. Nothing wrong with imitating other authors as a beginner writer, and so it’s beyond the scope of this post.

The reason is that it’s not imitation per se that leads us to cargo cult writing. It’s imitation without understanding it, and expecting the same results.

In other words, cargo cult writing means to write a particular way (copying another writer), not really taking the trouble understanding why it was used that way, and expecting success (in whatever form you define it).

Yes, it’s as silly as using coconuts as headsets and expecting a C-47 to parachute canned food.

To emulate another writer means:

On the other hand, authors who fall victim to cargo cult writing follow a trajectory not unlike this:

Warning Cargo Cult Signs for a Writer

In more practical, specific terms, a writer who’s a victim of cargo cult writing might follow patterns such as the following:

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Escaping the Cargo Cult

Escaping the cargo cult style as a writer isn’t much different from escaping any cult: It requires a bit of luck and someone to show you why you might be misguided. It’s likely also a matter of personality – some people are just more susceptible to cults, and it’s harder for them to escape one.

Cargo cult writing is both about writing and about marketing. As you saw from the elements I listed above, the cult aspects can affect both writing-as-art and writing-as-marketing. In other words, the imitative rituals extend in both directions.

Some writers might display cult behavior in terms of writing (e.g. not using adverbs because Stephen King says so), but they might still ponder on their marketing decisions. I’d consider the opposite unlikely. In other words, I can’t see how an author who’s experienced and confident enough to write independently would fall victim to cult-like behavior in terms of marketing. But hey, anything’s possible.

The Key: Storytelling Is a Solitary Activity

In any case, the key in escaping the cult is realizing something most people seem to ignore: Storytelling is one of the most solitary forms of art out there. Perhaps even the most solitary one.

Though I’m sure you could find exceptions and special cases, arts like music and filmmaking, dancing and drama, require some degree of team work. Often a lot of teamwork. Writing is overwhelmingly more often the result of one person.

This should also underline that writing should be a characteristically multifaceted form of art. To be sure, we follow conventions – either in terms of linguistic or in terms of narrative form – but in writing there is a kind of freedom hard to find in other arts.

So why imitate – non-educationally – others?

Why follow the advice of someone (anyone; even mine!) without first pondering on its applicability to your own special circumstances and priorities?

There is only one gauge of success in writing, and that’s you. You are the sole authority in terms of defining why you write, what you need to do, and how you can tell if you’ve achieved your goal. The less you imitate existing patterns, the easier it will become to reach this enlightenment.