Writing prompts for artists who are not feeling productive, because of all the nightmares

angelaserthings:

Has the end of Western Civilization got you down? Called your reps, donated percentages of your meager artist income to ACLU and Planned Parenthood, but still can’t help getting angry, hopeless, depressed, tired, hungry, sad, and cry-filled when you start to write?

Here are reasons to make things, despite the horror.

People are sad. People work long hours at meaningful jobs, and meaningless jobs, and afterward they are tired and sad. Make a song/a poem/a book/a game/a painting that will make them happy. That will remind them of a happy memory, that will help them process a bad memory they had almost forgotten. Write a song that will remind them of “the one who got away” and tell them they are better off. Write a song that tells them they are better than their sexist boss, because they know how to shake that booty.
People feel alone. People sit in their cubicles, on the bus, on the Internet, at dinner with their family, in the grocery store, and see racism, homophobia and transphobia offered with no resistance. They think they are the only one who cares. Write them a song to show that you care, that they are not alone. Perhaps this will give them the final bit of strength they need to stand up to a bully, because they know you are backing them up in spirit.
People are ignorant. By no fault except the accident of birth, some folks are never taught the history of xenophobia, nazis, the civil war, and hate crimes from the perspective of the marginalized groups. They go to church and school, weigh the opinions equally, and do not learn facts about the earth. They get their morals from folks who prioritize the Republican’s promises of “the good ol’ days” and small government over the golden rule. These kids get their entertainment from things like the Transformers movies, and perhaps the allegories of good vs. evil, on a macro vs. micro level are not quite internalized on a meaningful level. Write a cartoon, a top 40 hit, a kid’s TV pilot, or a Transformers movie to teach these children empathy for those who look and think different from them. Maybe when they grow up to be Republicans, they won’t be so sexist about it.

You can turn sadness into action. Not just for yourself, but for others, too. You can give someone the strength to convince their uncle to accept transgender identities, without yelling. You can help a poorly-paid teacher get some peace and rest so he can go in the next day and teach some egalitarian social studies in an authentic, energetic way. You can convince somebody with too much money to give some (to you, for art, but also) to a charity that makes a difference. You can inform, amuse, rebel. We need all of it.

Make something new. Creation is an act of resistance, even when it doesn’t change the world.

Angela M Webber is a musician and writer. Check out her band at thedoubleclicks.com and sign up for emails of occasional new writing and creations at tinyletter.com/angelaser.