Dearest Writer:
Don't stop writing.
The world is burning, but:
Don't stop writing.
Everything is uncertain and terrifying, but:
Don't stop writing.
Why? Why do words on pages or stories about made-up things (if you write fiction, which I know most of you do) even MATTER right now?
A thought experiment:
Think of one person in your life who isn't a writer. Who might not have much education. Who has trouble articulating their feelings and thoughts. Think about how that person feels when they read a book and recognize parts of themselves in it - and understand themselves and their place in the world more because of it. Think about how books can help them feel seen and known. Or how these books can open them up to new ideas and ways of being. This can happen in ANY kind of story. The lightest comedy can erase hate. Just look at Glee. I saw with my own eyes people in my life become less intolerant simply because they liked a story with characters who were different than them, characters they came to love and root for. And then, in their real lives, people like those characters? Well, suddenly they weren't "other."
Back when I lived in Boston, I was the Volunteer Coordinator for the Prison Book Program. (A worthy organization to donate to, by the way!)
I received so many letters from Black men--many of whom had been put away in their youth--seeking books. Some wanted practical things like legal aid, while others just wanted a good story. They wanted to get out of the cages our society had put them into through the pre-school to prison pipeline. Books were that escape.
So we need everything you've got, writers. They need it.
Things fall apart. The center cannot hold. This is the spacetime juncture we all find ourselves in right now amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest in the United States that was a LONG time coming.
It can feel like writing is pointless. Like your stories or words--maybe even YOU--are pointless. Spoiler alert: Your words and your stories and * especially * YOU are necessary and important.
So is our fight for justice and the words we choose to take part in that fight with. But your writing and your fight are not mutually exclusive.
Stories are empathy machines and this world needs empathy now more than ever.
Stories are sanctuaries - and this world needs those too.
Whatever you write--whether it's topical or escapist--a reader somewhere needs it.
The past few days, I've been switching between romance novels for escape and books on race. I've been reading non-fiction and fiction that helps me get into the world of my new book. I've been reading poetry. I've been reading the Times and I've been reading my own work-- books written long ago whose characters are my comfort food.
So whatever you're writing: keep writing. Or give yourself permission to take a break if you need it--not too long, though. The world needs stories.
Of course, writing is not ALL one must do.
But this is what I can speak to. I encourage you to seek Black voices in the creativity space to go deeper with how you can use your words in the fight against injustice and to gather their wisdom on creativity.
One great place to start is by following Kate Johnson, a Black meditation teacher and writer who led a retreat on the intersection of spirituality and race that I attended in 2017 as part of my meditation teacher teacher training. You can find her here.
Writer Rachel Cargle has a wonderful Instagram with TONS of valuable resources to both educate and activate in the link of her Instagram bio, as well as a great feed. I've found this to be immensely helpful as I've navigated my role as a White woman in all of this.
Make no mistake: an ignorant writer is worse than not writing at all. So we educate ourselves, we write, and we fight.
There are so, so many ways to get involved and I trust that you wonderful writers are all delving into those options. The key, of course, is to be active characters, just as we strive to write active characters.
Passive protagonists never make for a good story.
To your words-
