Writing may not be the actual catalyst for change, but the influence of the written medium cannot be underestimated. This article explores the impact of writing and how it can change things.
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Author: Rakhi Bhargava
If by ‘change’ you mean making a difference to big things like world peace and Ethiopia, then maybe not. That requires leadership of mass movements, legislation, policy changes and big government intervention. A lot of this may be triggered by someone’s writing (think Gandhi or Mandela) but it takes a hell of a lot more than writing to convert words to action on this scale (again, think Gandhi or Mandela).
But by ‘change’ you mean small things, and then certainly, writing can change things.
Examples of these small changes are all around us – we are moved by a novel, we are tempted to buy by an ad, a newspaper column can inflame us…
Sometimes – not very often, but sometimes – these changes in attitude result in action – we buy a product, we tell a neighbor, we write letters to the government, we take part in protests…we do small incremental things.
Well! It is not said for nothing that the pen is mightier than the sword and the thoughts of all great leaders and saints have reached people through the written medium. Yes professional writers today too bring about changes, today the audience is not as receptive as it was say 50 years ago, yet writers do bring about change, it only depends on the cause they choose to champion and the method they choose, they could be didactic or use the medium of fiction but the written medium was/is and always will be effective.
As a writer at least I’d like to think that my writing CAN change the world. Nevertheless, the amount of influence depends on various factors: the expression, the meaning and the audience. How do you treat the subject? Do it emotionally, shrewdly and persistently! The mantra is relate to the audience; make them feel the issue at hand; make them fear, make them awe, make them passionate and stirred. It is all up to you to weave mere words into such significant and powerful expressions.
I believe that writers can still and do imagine themselves able to consciously change something. However, their own writing may not be the actual catalyst for change, but part of a collection of writings that brings about change. There are both more people in the world today and more outlets and therefore a more fractionalized audience.
Therefore, a writer who sets out to write a piece focused on making a particular change will likely be disappointed, and his or her writing may well be stilted to the point of a harangue. However, a writer who focuses on delivering content that may bring about change will draw more satisfaction from his or her work and may well stand a better chance of bringing that change about.
In other words, dream, plan, but do not expect too much… if your words have not changed a significant section of readers do not worry, even if one person changes the effort is worth it!
One thing should be remembered my contribution could be a drop in the ocean but if I don’t contribute, the ocean is short of that one drop!!!
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