Psychology in Writing: The Economics of Social Issues In Writing

Article by Vasilios Moudilos

In June of last year, during the last class of a writing workshop, the guest speaker, Donna Yates-Adelman, author of the book Yes, Sister discussed personal experiences that culminated in the publication of her book.

Part of her conversation involved an article written about her struggles with breast cancer in which she solicited a high profile magazine to publish her piece. She was told that there were already too many such stories in print. Not giving up, her article was published in the 'Stories of Courage' section of a local newspaper.

Often the constitution of a writer's mind is such as to take snippets of information from the environment wherein they lie dormant for months, perhaps years, before some trigger stirs them to consciousness, begging to be analyzed and communicated in writing. Such was the case with me as I pondered Donna's story about breast cancer.

Who has the moral authority to determine when the limit has been reached regarding publishing articles that involve social issues and that raise social awareness? I asked myself.

From a business perspective, readers may "have had enough" of the same topic, but is it the same topic? Every incidence of breast cancer stands alone in terms of personal tears, pain, and determination. As each cancer patient stands unique, her story is also unique.

As writers we are fueled by emotion, by devotion, and by a higher purpose to write. The publisher's ledger of supply and demand does not enter into the creative equation.

Breast cancer is but one social cause that touches the hearts of writers. Social advocacy, through writing, addresses the diminishing rainforest, the terrible treatment of animals (both domestic and wild), the preference of funding wars over funding hospitals, abortion, the moral decline evident on both a familial and societal level... The list is endless.

The writer's purpose, through fiction or nonfiction, is not only to entertain, but to bring attention to social causes which he/she holds dear to the heart. From this passion, creativity is ignited and sustained. There is never too much to be written about ongoing social issues as long as they clash with our sense of morality. Only in resolution can it be said that enough has been written.

In finding your social issue and raising awareness, you may take the direct route of making it the main plot of your book, but it can also be manifested in other ways. It can take on the form of a subplot running throughout the book. The main character or a secondary character may have, as one of his/her attributes, the favoring of a social cause that is introduced indirectly into a novel with an entirely different main plot.

Take the example of an action novel wherein our main character, a detective, is sitting down for breakfast with his wife:

The snitch would be waiting for him at the pool hall in an hour, Devereux thought, as he sat down to breakfast. Margret, his wife of ten years, was unusually quiet this morning.

"What's on your mind, Margie?" he smiled.

"Dan, the results came back from the hospital. It's cancer. Stage 3."

Devereux was hit by an invisible bullet to the heart. "What? Cancer? What are you saying, Margie? You're only thirty-five."

"I'm saying that after the mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy, I have a 40 to 50 percent chance of seeing my fortieth birthday." She began to cry softly.

He jumped from his chair and held her tightly. Nothing else mattered now.

The greater the number of readers you are able to touch on an emotional level the greater the possibility that one reader, somewhere and sometime, will read and remember that part of the story, perhaps to the point of proactive initiative. Your book then finds a place on the library shelf or in the home study room for generations. The issues it addresses and emotions it evokes remain timeless.

Embrace the social issue you hold most at heart and mold it into a story. Create the settings and characters that will show, not tell, the tale. Each story is indeed as unique as the tears that well up in a victim's eyes; human or animal. Do not be concerned about the saleability of your work. Donna Yates-Adelman was not. She did not give up and her story was told.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is not in October for the writer. It is on each and every day of the year. What you advocate in writing can, at the very least, influence donations for a cure and ultimately fuel, through inspiration, the drive towards the cure.