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My POV
Brian A. Wilson
WHAT CAN I DO?
Anyone with a TV and a heart had to be asking himself that question this week.
Putting out the flag, giving blood, swearing to vote in the next election-all these are good things.
As writers, however, we can do much, much more.
We can write.
And we must write.
The world needs our words, and the books, plays, movies and television shows they create. Despite the idiotic denials of some critics and media barons, yes, media do influence lives. Whether it's "I'll be back" or "Veni, vidi, vinci" or "This is a day that will live in infamy," writers' words synthesized by and transmitted by media reshape people's lives, views and actions.
Bear that in mind next time you type FADE IN:.
What comes next? An explosion? An icepick-in-the-eye murder? A rape to make your open "sexy" or "exciting'?
If all goes well, people will watch your work, thousands or millions of people, watching for ten, twenty, fifty years to come.
Ask yourself, what do I want to put out into the universe for all time?
I'm not saying nobody can ever pull a gun or steal a car in order to advance a story point. Breathtaking events rivet us to a story, as we've seen on CNN this week. I'm saying consider if there is a better way to tell your story.
Even as I try to write this, I realize what a conundrum it is that we face as writers. The "art" we create is supposed to somehow exceed reality-aliens can zap the White House, but nobody is supposed to be able to dive-bomb the Pentagon. How do we stay ahead of reality, how to we provide fantasy to an audience hungry for an exciting story, when reality keeps passing us by?
As I watched those planes go into the World Trade Center towers, I was, of course, shocked and stunned, nauseated at the thought of what was going on inside both building and plane. Yet I couldn't help but wonder if I was perhaps a bit less shocked and stunned that I should have been, than I would have been had I not seen quite so many crashes, explosions and fires on the big screen.
Some will argue, "Hey, if I don't write "Gone in 60 Seconds 2" or "Rush Hour 19", then somebody else will. I suppose that may be true.
But what if somebody offered it to you, and you said no? And all your writing buddies said no? What if you said, "You know what, I've got something better...."
And if you do write the next sequel packed with mindless violence, perhaps it's at least worth considering what else you write, that perhaps you can put something else into the world to balance it out. Maybe you can find a way to put something out there that stimulates with terrifying, that educates rather than titillates, something that brings the world closer together, rather than moving us further apart.
Maybe you can write something that brings peace to the world.
Hey, if four fanatics can steal four planes and do what they did this week, anything is possible.
Whatever you do, keep writing. The world needs your words.
BW
bigtex@loop.com
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