Thursday, January 19, 2012

Do Writers Play A Role In Shaping Our Society?





• Novelists


• Screenwriters

• Songwriters




I believe we all contribute to our society. We put an image in our subjects’ heads, a feeling in their hearts.

As writers I feel we share a responsibility to put the right image out there. At times I feel the industry bombards people with the wrong material and morality takes a second seat as we board the next trend that comes along.

What are our children growing up to? What would be restricted years ago seems quite ridiculous in today’s standards.

Parents today have their hands full when it comes to discouraging drug use, promiscuity and crime. It seems songs, movies, TV shows and novels are littered with it, encouraging such behavior without showing the consequences of such actions. I’m not saying songs, movies, TV shows and novels are all bad, there is so much good out there too but there are also a lot of questionable ones as well.

Not to be a hypocrite, I admit I’ve written stories with shady characters… But I always try to make the protagonist see the error of their ways. I believe characters can have deep undertones—it humanizes them but at some point I want them to see the light.

In closing, I have to quote author Edward Bulwer-Lytton when he wrote the now famous cliché; The pen is mightier than the sword.

Sitting here in front of my computer, I have to wonder what the next generation will be like. Will my words inspire them in some way? Fanciful thought I know but I can’t help but hope that I write something… anything that will point someone in the right direction.