What to Write About When You Want to Change The World
Stuck on finding a topic to focus on in your efforts to change the world with words? Here are just a few suggestions to get you thinking – and hopefully writing.
An Issue.
It could be an issue that affects you or one that affects people you’ve never met. A lack of safe play spaces for children in your neighbourhood, or clean water for African nations.
An Injustice.
The world is full of them, From dangerous criminals being released early, to a lack of financial aid for poor students. Reading almost any newspaper will throw up a few more.
An ‘Ism’.
Sexism. Racism. Ageism. Prejudice and discrimination always give you something to write about.
Something that makes you mad.
Drunk drivers. High insurance premiums. Illogical government policies or legislation. (But don’t just rant. Look beyond the obvious to find the real, and often controversial, issues behind your daily irritants.)
Something that makes you sad.
A parent’s Alzheimer’s disease. Your infertility.
Something that is misunderstood.
Single parenthood. Autism. Non-conformity.
A cause.
Any cause – if it matters to you, it matters to some of your potential readers. Whether it’s rights for refugee children, natural food or the environment.
A non-profit.
Each one was set up by an individual or group who are passionate about their goals. Consider profiling or interviewing one of the founders
A different culture.
There are few things so certain to change someone’s view of the world as spending time in a completely different culture. Write about how things are done differently elsewhere in the world, to encourage people to open their minds and maybe challenge the status quo.
Any of the above can give you a starting point for your next piece of writing whether it’s an article, a short story, or even a book.
What do you write about when you want to change the world? Where do you start? What topics inspire you? Feel free to share in the comments.
Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention
Twitter: writeandchange
says:
Hi Robin – Definitely a topic with potential to change the world!
I don’t so much wish to chang the worlds thinking, as I’d like people to come to come to their own conclusions about materialism.
Is the universe, including life, an automatic, mechanical process, driven by the laws of physics and chemistry? (the materialist position) Or — are mind, consciousness, free will and volition, all of which are not relevant to the laws of physics and chemistry, significant aspects of reality? (the non materialist position)
There are two main views: Theism, which claims a deity dictated the laws of nature and suspends them when it suits His purpose – and Atheism, which envisions the laws of nature as popping into existence, for no particular reason, accidentally creating a deterministic “perpetual motion machine”, a mechanical reality in which any change originates as errors. There is supposed to be a third view, agnosticism, which insists such knowledge about ultimate reality is unknowable. However the human mind seems unable to resist speculating about such things, and my agnostic speculation is that the entire universe is alive and conscious, with free-will always playing the creative role, but having developed and grown gradually, over eons of time. The laws of nature are entrenched habits. In fact, the laws governing the inanimate universe have become so entrenched that they appear fixed to us. Life, on the other hand, is still evolving, and free-will has evolved in humans to the point where most of us take it for granted. The universe created itself, purposefully and intelligently. Thus, with a will of my own I feel like a participant in that creative process, rather than an impotent observer. I might not have much power over most of the universe, but I do feel some responsibility for my own growth and development.
A Few Impertinent Questions about Autism, Freudianism and Materialism.
http://30145.myauthorsite.com/