In Times of Trouble...

how do you write?

Like many Americans, I’ve been struggling over the past few years, trying to decide what I can do to make things better. There seem to be so many things wrong right now, and everyone is so angry and hateful. And I don’t know what to do.

• The first reaction I have—beyond “There isn’t anything I can do“—is to figure I need to focus on the circles and neighborhood around me: helping the people I know in ways that they need to make their lives better.

• Well, I do that in small ways already. And some of the bigger ways could be construed as telling people how I think they should live, act, breathe—the very kind of ‘help’ no one wants.

• My third idea—the one most of us get told—is to somehow use my talents to make things better. Hmmm.

I have a few talents: cooking, sewing, home reno, woodworking, writing. I actually do a little of these almost every day. But I’m no good at cooking on a large scale for groups of people. Sewing is something I only do under duress or inspiration and never for anyone outside my family. Home reno I enjoy, but ditto on doing it outside my family or maybe for a close friend. I don’t want to blunder and mess up someone else’s home! I am only a beginning woodworker, but I can do more than some people, so I occasionally offer to help someone with a small project. Still, I’m not sure how much that can do towards world peace or saving the country or even effecting change.

I am actually not very good at a lot of the ‘helping’ type of situations—pitching in and all that. I don’t make a good organizer or ‘boss’, and I don’t like taking direction if I think they aren’t good directions. So I actually stay away from a lot of the organized group efforts. (I know, it sounds like a bunch of excuses, and it is, but I also know that I won’t make a good helper if I am disagreeing with what they ask me to do.)

So, what’s left? For me? Writing. Of course.

It’s the same thing I always tell my writing friends facing this dilemma: Use your writing skills to help. And it makes sense, particularly when writing coherently is—shall we say—not a common talent. It’s becoming rarer, even in professional circles, as people prefer using their own styles of communication over following the conventions of written language that make it comprehensible. Not to mention the absence of logic in what are supposed to be circles of leadership. I digress, but it is part of the reason I see a need here.

The bigger question becomes “How do I write?”, but I mean that in two ways.

The first is “How do I use my writing ability to contribute?” There are a number of organizations—grass roots and otherwise—that need writers to spread voting information. These organizations send out newsletters, flyers, even postcards about candidates or voting procedures, sometimes just about current local and national issues. Contacting these groups can provide leads on what they need and how you can provide. Some very organized groups will welcome a volunteer with open arms and an immediate assignment; it’s just a matter of getting in touch. Magazines—hard copy and online—are often looking for pieces on issues and voter trends. If you have good access to information and either an existing platform or unique point of view, these can be markets for your skills. Some might not pay, but knowing you’re trying to effect change can be rewarding in itself. Even small community groups may be putting out newsletters to urge their members to get involved, and they may need some external input.

What if you can’t—or don’t want to— do the work for someone else? You can offer opinion pieces to local news outlets and online content—even start your own Substack. Columns or articles can run the gamut from empathetic pieces on how to manage emotions in turbulent times to getting specific help for your children in less-than-sympathetic surroundings, things like how to navigate medical or social service systems. Topics can have national scope, too, on policy or the state of democracy in your country. Choosing topics that will inform people and help them live life more easily is contributing to the solution in hopes of eradicating the problem.

The other way I mean “How do I write?” refers to the inner turmoil you are going through yourself. How do you write when you are so upset about life that you want to writhe and spit and snarl at anyone who comes near you? How do you write when it seems all you can do is cry? How do you sit down and put words together in a way that conveys emotion, describes the issue, shares the pain, and points the way out when you just want to sit down and dull your own pain in the handiest manner possible?

I don’t know.

That is, I don’t know what will work for you. What I DO know is that sitting down and composing an article that responds to these questions provides you with an outlet for the anger and grief you are experiencing. It also provides a lifeline to others who see things as you do. Knowing that others are experiencing bad times in similar fashion, with similar helplessness comforts the reader with the knowledge they are not alone. Presenting the issues in organized fashion helps them build clarity around what is happening and how it affects them. Sharing the pain eases it, and practical suggestions of action provide handholds they can grip to make changes. Knowing you have provided help with your words eases your stress over working to make things better. Whether you provide these things in a letter to a friend or the newspaper or an online venue, putting your words out there will help them and you. Anticipating that feeling may be enough to get you writing. Writing your first ‘help’ piece will give you the satisfaction of accomplishing your own goal, and move you forward.

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Using your writing talent to help someone builds a whole result greater than sum of the words of the written piece—the antithesis to the zero-sum thinking in operation amongst certain groups now.

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