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Being a Writer Means Being Aware

08 Sep

There was a movie in 1981 that was wildly touted as a critical success however it was ignored by the mainstream. Dinner with Andre was a movie that revolved around the conversation between two people who had lost contact over the years. The men discuss a number of things from the state of the world to the travels of one of them and the lessons he has learned. Some say that this movie, like 1984, is prophetic; I am one of those people.

I agree that we have become cattle to a grand degree and that humans have stopped thinking for themselves. We are led by the nose by the media and a government with an agenda and, because we are enamored with technology and social media we have gone to sleep. It is the reason we have so many books now-a-days that don’t actually tell a story. It’s the reason we stopped taking responsibility for being socially aware. It’s the reason why we have an entire generation who feels entitled.

We, as writers, have a social responsibility whether we want to believe it or not. We write and people listen…simple yet effective. But so many of us have sold out to a world that is being run by corporations and the one percent. We have left the true calling and become a part of the problem.

I was a journalist for over 30 years. I loved the job, talking to people, being a part of the observers…but then something happened that ruined it for me…the job changed. I began to see people fall victim to the media and I began to see people within my career group using their positions to attack folks, become part of the story and allow themselves to be used by big business. News reporting became about “creating” the news, not reporting it. Then, in 2004, I myself fell victim to the changing tide and I was attacked with my own career, my writing…it took me a long time to recover…some days I feel like I am still recovering. I knew then that I would never report the news again….”they” had taken that away from me.

Who are “they”? “They” are the people who want us to believe that the world is flat because it suits their needs. They want to go to war so they make things up so that we will support it. They continually tear at the seams of the world so they can reinvent it in their image. They stop the true storytellers because they don’t want everyone to know the truth…they need us to live in their lies.

As writers we have a duty, a social responsibility to tell our stories in the truest way possible. “They” will tell you that no one will buy your book if you don’t write it a certain way. “They” will tell you that there are certain topics that you must stay away from and they will tell you that being a writer is a pauper’s profession. Don’t listen! Folks, if we stop writing people will stop having a way of hearing the truth. People will stop being able to see the world as it is instead of how “they” want you to see it. We have a moral obligation and we need to be practicing that every…single…day. So write…write every day…tell your stories…tell your truth because it is someone else’s truth too and they need to hear it. Don’t focus on the money or listening to folks tell you what will and won’t sell. Just write….the world needs us and they need us now!

© The Writer’s Advice, 2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on September 8, 2022 in Writing

 

One response to “Being a Writer Means Being Aware

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    September 25, 2022 at 7:14 pm

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