How to Change the World

Authors as Inflection Points

There is nobody in the world more powerful than an author.

An author has something to say. They are not a mere “writer.” They do far more than just string together pretty words. They write because they believe in something. They have a story to tell that won’t stop nibbling on their heart until they give it its own life.

I know it doesn’t feel like that when you’re stuck in your office chair in the basement of your home while the bills rack up and your neighbors won’t turn down their music and you’re so stressed out from the nonstop news cycles and attention algorithms.

You don’t feel like anything special. You certainly don’t feel like someone who can stand out amidst all the noise.

Let me tell you something. There is a difference between signal and noise. People know this by now. There is no shortage of noise, but signal comes with meaning built-in, and people can sense that.

Stories with signal are purpose-driven. They feature timely themes and characters with deeply personal problems. They view our world through a rare lens—that of the visionary. They are written with a sense of connection to the greater universe, to our fellow human, and to our future selves. They are fearless and unflinching.

Stories with signal induce change.

From the ground up

Humans have been wired for story since the dawn of history. History itself is a story. We live story.

That also means that nothing else has quite so powerful an impact on our cognition. A good story speaks directly to our subconscious.

When we write a story, we are not simply fostering something fun and entertaining, we are speaking deeply to the reader, sometimes in ways they don’t even detect. If our stories have the privilege of being widely read, they can shape things on an archetypal level.

We should not take the task of being authors lightly. We are the most influential people in the world.

For that reason, it’s important to consider what it is we wish to say.

The stories of today become the legends of tomorrow. The science we speculate on now will be seriously explored in the near-future. The cultural trials our characters fight through will develop into the next generation’s introspection.

It happens this way because stories give us the opportunity to foresee problems and experiment with numerous possible solutions. Things pivot and evolve much quicker in stories than they do in real world situations, which provides us with a sort of collective mirror.

Back in the days of optimism, space travel was depicted as luxurious and idealistically advanced. That has slowly acclimated to being more class-conscious, science-realist, and resource-scrappy. We’ve pulled the problem closer to us so we can see it more clearly and consider the workings more accurately.

Fantasy has moved from investing in overly-elaborate, outlandish worlds to blending with romance and ecological foundations. It has humanized.

It’s no coincidence that the submissions market has moved to requesting “grounded” science fiction and fantasy. This means they want stories that are closer to home and take place in more practical settings. Part of this is motive around budget, but part of it is that right now we need stories that feel real.

We need stories of hope, and hope is more palpable when it hits home.

Instigate transformation

Writing a story with signal is about more than making social commentary. It’s about a change in the author themselves.

We all go through struggles—illness, loss, inequality, rejection—and your story is going to be much more powerful if you’re speaking from a place you’ve lived. Living through trials teaches us about the world around us, and we gain wisdom and experience worth sharing.

You have causes you believe in.

You have things you would fight for.

You have people for whom you would give everything.

You know this world can be better than it is. Put a voice to your power.

Challenges teach us lessons that are fueled with an intense real-world fire, able to spark feelings in others they’ve never felt before. If a story has ever changed you, you know what that feels like.

Stories are an exceptional vehicle for progress because of the way they favor true wisdom. Unlike athletics or technical skills or popularity contests, storytelling gets better with age. The more years a person has lived, the more whole their viewpoint becomes. They speak from emotional maturity and healed wounds.

Your opportunity to create change through story never diminishes. It compounds. You are never out of this game, so you should never give up.

We tell people all the time to be the change they wish to see in the world. I say, write the change. Being is about living as an example. Stories encompass that, with the added benefit that they are contagious. They have the potential to spread like wildfire.

We are all better humans when we try and help one another. It gives our work purpose and vigor. Never before in history have storytellers had more potential. We can reach the world in a single click. Narrative structure has been honed to the point that formatting and distribution are no longer hindrances.

The core message of your tale stands out more now than ever. Use it to do your greatest good.

Don’t just write a story. Write your heart.