How Writers Can Improve a Society's Dominant Cultural Narrative

Upgrade at 30% off It helps! Thanks in advance!Our stories forge our reality, so the last thing you want to do is be realistic. Creative people have an obligation to imagine a better future. In our dreams, everything is possible, and the moment we forget that, we consign ourselves to misery.Words are more powerful than even writers realize. I’ve spent the last half decade writing and reading stories to my children. We’ve shared many fantastic adventures together from the comfort of their room.Those stories have become shared memories that are as real as any other memory. Sometimes during car trips or at dinner, one of my girls will recall a moment and we’ll all be transported back to that memory together.In the stories I write for them, I always try to convey a world where people treat each other with compassion. In the world of our imagination, education is respected, and expertise is revered.Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could inhabit a world like that? Such a thing is certainly within our grasp, we just have to allow ourselves to think it’s possible.Our cultural narrative needs some editingIn our real lives, whenever we have a problem we seek out the advice of accomplished people. Experts are derided in the quiet moments, but when a problem arises we run to them. We look to individuals who are knowledgeable and who have dedicated their time to finding solutions. We’re desperate to seek out those that know how to alleviate our pain.But when we’re not confronted with an imminent need, we treat the concept of study with disrespect. Why do we insist on behaving with such immaturity?In the stories I write for my children, respect and accountability are as prominent as the main characters. Teachers, doctors, scientists and academics are revered. Bullies, liars, and cheats are opposed.This is the mindset we have to manifest into our reality.Dare to imagine a better worldMy fantasies are far removed from the norms our time because I don’t see these norms as an inevitability. My critics say I should be more realistic about the failings of human nature. But I have no desire to give oxygen to destructive thinking. I much prefer to imagine a society that reflects the best of what we can be.Assuming a better reality is impossible serves no purpose. Wasting energy on that kind of thought creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.The truth is that many places have already achieved a better reality. Writers are magicians who weave narrative threads that control the fabric of our history. We call it “culture shock” to jump on an airplane and merge with a different story. But once you become a traveler of words, you begin to recognize the difference between enduring truths and temporary deceits.The return of audacious storytellingWhen I contemplate the literature of the United States of America, I don’t often see appeals for a better future. There are stories designed to maintain a tired illusion of an inaccurate past. There are stories that are really nothing more than thinly veiled threats and demands for compliance. But there are wide swaths of possibility that are missing.People say, “Well, you have to be realistic. You can’t make promises that are impossible to deliver.”The problem isn’t the promise. The problem is the failure.It’s a tragedy that so many people fall into the misconception of thinking they’re somehow being “reasonable” if they refuse to even visualize a better world. This is thought censorship of the most malicious kind.Do not let destructive forces clip the wings of your dreamsOur nation needs another narrative. We have to shake off the sense that we must be grateful to survive even if it means we can never thrive. We have to recognize it’s unfortunate that we’ve talked ourselves into finding satisfaction while living within a deep, dark hole. This narrative has such a terrifying grip on us that even when we dream, we restrict ourselves from visiting something better.A reality filled with hope and respect for human dignity is not only possible, it’s a lot closer than you’d ever believe.As I look around today, I see signs of change. Across all forms of media, there are indications that the people are beginning to reject the same old tired narrative that we’ve been indoctrinated with since birth.The people want a new story. It’s time for a new voice to be heard.Never has there been a time in my life when a larger audience has been roused to seek out new ideas and new platforms. Crowds of people are forming who insist on diversity and inspiration. What they really want is a new set of dreams.Truncated literature cannot satiate the human spiritOur literature is the collective musings of our time. Our literature represents where we’re headed, where we’re coming from, and what our present life is like. The stories we have to choose from right now are truncated. They are the same stories we’ve seen a thousand times.All we ever get are sequels or remakes of stories that weren’t all that satisfying to begin with. It is possible to create films about a world of equals where everybody has their needs met. Why don’t we see stories like that? Why don’t we highlight the flaws in the dominant narrative so that they might be corrected? Why can’t we appeal to unity rather than division? Why do we have so many restrictions and limitations on our thought and we can’t even acknowledge it’s happening?The same old tired narrative has been broadcast throughout my entire life. The people want something new.Creation through collaborationI find that when you put creative people together in some sort of space, it doesn’t have to even be a physical space, but if they have the opportunity to interact with each other and challenge each other and build on each other’s ideas, they can reform reality into something better. Words are real first in their minds, then they become memories, then they become our shared reality.All that’s required is the courage to dream.Writers fuse admirable qualities into their personal ideologies. This helps them put aside the fear that there’s corruption everywhere, and that it taints everything eventually. We don’t have to accept that.Allow yourself to be vulnerable and put more trust in your fellow human beings. You start to see that all these counter arguments about the things that we can’t have and why it has to be this way are nothing but the narrative of a malicious past. These lies have been leveraged and supported to keep us in our place and to keep us from dreaming and to keep us from demanding all the things that should be ours by right.There’s never been a more important time to encourage everyone to share their voices and write.Let’s imagine a new story togetherWe need to cast aside the old model where only a few people get to be the storytellers of our age. We must instead embrace a cooperative model where everybody speaks and we encourage each other to have their say. Because the more we share, the more perspectives we see, the more clues we gather about the beautiful nature of our diverse reality. This new perspective will stretch your mind, but as we find the courage to embark on this journey of mutual progress, we begin to understand how much we have to rely on each other.That’s where we’re at now. We’re at a turning point in history. Our literature needs to change, as does our society.The more we speak out and share our stories, the greater clarity we achieve on what our final destination will be.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe