World Crises And The Fiction Writer ~ Can They Help Humanity?
Here I go again, inching out on that limb I keep bending with the weight of speculation…
The title of today's post could seem useless as a question since folks can point to a multitude of works of fiction that have aided humanity, to varying degrees, in its seemingly never-ending struggle.
To another type of person, the question of writers helping humanity could seem like a ludicrous proposition. Writers of fiction create stories that have characters going through crises but solving the world's problems is for the philosophers and scientists.
Some may feel that showing various characters facing challenges and reaching successful resolutions is of definite aid to humanity since humanity is a large group of individuals and solutions of world crises begin in each of our hearts.
Other people will feel other sentiments…
O.K., since my posts are rarely written to push a certain agenda but to foster thought and creativity, let's consider a few questions:
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* Is humanity just a bunch of individuals?
* Should we count on science and technology to solve world crises?
* Does religion have any role to play?
* Is it necessary to even think about humanity as some kind of "entity" that has requirements that people need to fulfill?
* Is fiction a proper tool for purposely proposing solutions to world crises?
* Does it go against some "law" of creativity to ask writers to make their fiction conform to some response to world conditions?
* What is the role in society of the fiction writer?
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The book I'll be publishing in May does happen to be a work that hopes to spark a sense of "mission" in the reader, to hopefully induce people to take an active interest in discovering ways in which they can contribute to lessening the burden of humanity's ills, to make a contribution to the possible attainment of world peace and tranquility.
That all said, I certainly don't feel that writers as a group need to be changing their own ideas about what they want their fiction to accomplish. Even though my book is attempting to facilitate some rather huge goals, I still want to read books that entertain me or divert me from the strains of current culture or make me forget about everything but a fantastic tale that has no bearing on political or humanitarian or scientific or religious agendas…
Still, can writers be more aware of how their work could include elements of plot or character or theme that, even if in a small way, contribute to a saner, healthier, more tranquil world?
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Tagged: authors, crises, crisis, fiction, humanity, purpose of writing, writer, writing goals
