How Your Writing Can Change The World

(The text below is from Writerslife.org, but the image above is from this link. No image was available at the quoted post.)

You don’t have to be a bestselling author in order for your writing to have an impact. By writing and sharing our writing with others, we are doing something positive, something good. However many books you sell, however prolific a writer you are, remember that you are doing something amazing.

Here’s how your writing can change the world:

Writing encourages reading, and this brings great pleasure.

Reading is one of life's simplest and greatest pleasures. It’s cheap, educational, cathartic, environmentally friendly, healthy and fun! By writing you are encouraging more people to read, you are contributing and promoting the pleasure of reading as a hobby, and no doubt reading a great deal yourself.

Very true. By letting your writing be published, you are getting people to see what you have done. Even if they don't know you, you might just become a favorite writer of theirs.

Writing speaks to people and helps them know they are not alone.

No matter what you write, you end up exploring emotions, human behaviour and big topics such as love, friendship, fear and death. People take great comfort in reading something that they can identify with. Reading helps people to feel as though they are understood and this can make such a difference in their lives.

Writing allows people to explore worlds that are not their own.

Sometimes it can be so cathartic to escape reality for a while, and there is nothing quite like a good book to take us into a whole different world and help us get some respite from the one we reside in, albeit temporarily! Great stories transport the reader to places that they have never been before, they feel immersed and carried away by the story, the adventures, and the universes created by writers - and that is something truly wonderful indeed.

Writing can teach us lessons, and make us think differently.

Writers can choose to use their writing to teach valuable lessons, to give new perspectives and make us see the world and the behaviour of people in a different light. Writing can inspire, motivate, and bring about change. As writers, we have the power to reach out to our readers and try to make the world a better place.

All the above can be especially found in a memoir. Whether it's a topic you identify with or one you know nothing about, this kind of writing can really make you think. I've read two different books written by a person with this condition. I'd never known about it until I read the book by this person, then heard about this one, which I quickly found at Goodwill.  I may not know about having this condition, but learning about it really made me think about how these people must have been feeling. When I read memoirs about depression, it's obvious that I can really identify with the writers of such, even if it's not the same condition I have.  I've come across many such books by people with bipolar disorder, but very few by people with dysthymia (which I have). Perhaps if I ever get published, my story will educate more people on the condition.  Prozac is commonly prescribed for dysthymia (as I have been) and so many people already know about this antidepressant, one reason I was hesitant to write about it since it had already been famously written about (and more than two decades ago). But I then realized I've be telling my own story and how I see and feel about the subject. 

Writing demonstrates how following your dreams and believing in your goals is a wonderful thing.

In short, you are setting a good example. By continuing to write, and do what you are passionate about and what you love, you encourage others to do the same. Imagine a world where everyone followed their dreams, and never gave up on their goals? What a happy place it would be! If by writing, you can encourage just a handful of people to keep pushing to achieve what they want out of life, you are making the world a richer and happier place to be.

It now seems that my wanting to write about my experience with depression after reading a book on a similar subject is one way that one person's writing encourages others to do the same. 

Writing truly is a wonderful gift, and we can all use our writing to change the world, to inspire people, and to bring about kindness. No matter how vast or tiny our readership is, even the smallest changes can add up to make a huge and amazing difference!

Even if you're not famous yet, your debut writing might just change that.