Fic: Preaching to the Choir

[meridian_rose]

Title: Preaching to the Choir
Fandom: Original
Pairing/Characters: gen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 383
Prompt: For the writerverse prompt 'disappointment'
Summary: It's disappointing to think you're just preaching to the choir – but maybe there's still value in it.
Content Notes: No standard warnings apply.
Crossposted to my wordpress blog.

photo base from public domain images

Rae closed her notebook. "Do you ever think you're just preaching to the choir?"

Gail took a sip of coffee, tore her eyes from the new barista before she spoke. "What do you mean?"

"When you write a blog article or a piece of fiction and you say things like being gay isn't a choice. Bisexuality is real, asexuality is real. Womanhood is not synonymous with motherhood." Rae rubbed at her eyes. "The people who read these things are usually those open to the ideas in the first place. It's frustrating, sometimes. Disappointing, even."

"You'd rather angry homophobes tell you how you're wrong on the Internet and going to hell?" Gail's tongue liked at the corner of her mouth, chasing a stray dab of cream.

Rae sighed. "Of course not. But isn't it the point of writing, to reach people, to make them think?"

"Not always. Sometimes," Gail said, "people want to be reassured. They want to read about people like them. They want to know that other bisexuals love baking or hate fishing or vice versa. And as for fiction, a well told tale is good for everyone – and you can't be sure who your audience is."

Rae considered this for a moment. "I suppose there might be one or two people who reconsider things," she agreed. "And for the rest, you're saying I'm preaching to the choir but they like it?"

"Why else would they be singing hymns, to stretch the metaphor?" Gail took another sip of her drink.

"So it's more like showing solidarity?"

"Yes, only that doesn't have the same ring. Though it lacks the religious overtones." Gail gave a snort. "I actually used the phrase 'singing from the same hymn sheet' the other day, and the last time I was in church was almost two years ago to admire the architecture."

Rae smiled. Gail had taken some good photos and written a short article to go with them, and it was still a popular post on her blog.

"Maybe that's worth an article. Why we continue to use Christian phrases when the religious landscape has changed and atheism is on the rise."

Gail shrugged. "Why not? That previous post on etymology you wrote got a lot of hits, didn't it?"

Rae nodded, and opened up the notebook again.