THE ROLE OF WRITERS IN A STRANGE  SOCIETY LIKE OURS.

Creativity is making something out of nothing, creating your imaginations, thoughts, ideals just the way you've seen and perceived it without being biased about it.  Creativity is the act of giving life to something you think should exist — You dont keep it in your imagination, you let it out so that others may have it and feel it just like you have felt it in you. It is you creating an image, paintings, words, ideologies, or  Something that goes for or against the policy of a given society but stands as a future gain to the same society if well utilised. But, it is also deliberate and involves political process, there’s just no escaping the political side of it all, of the intended recipients or targetted audience. You may not be able to follow up or speak to all readers with your ideologies or Opinions because not all your audience would agree to what you've written but at least something goes out from you  as a writers or a creator; a giver of life to something that never existed in the actual sense non- writers.

You can subjective to the actual facts and leave your readers to think differently from what you have written either subjectively or objectively with their thoughts.

Writers have vital roles to play in a society like ours. We can not over emphasis that many strange things are happening among us. Hence it is Paramount for writers to be observate and take notice of all that goes on in the society they live in, politically, Socially and religiously. The bombing, the killings, the kidnappings, and so many other things happening within or around us should be make known to the common man in the streets. The fact remains that we can't just sit down and watch everything play from head  to toe without putting it down for the future. We can't fold our hands and watch the killings in Jos, Borno and Kaduna and the spread of Corona Virus— we can't. We can't keep resting when there are many things to write about here; the unemployment saga, the insecurity in our land, lack of Social Amenities, and political unrest in every corner of our society.

Sometimes people see writers as very strange humans, others see them as loners and sometimes as sadists whose lives reek of boredom and solitude. But the very day I realised I own my own heart beat and owe no one any explanation on how I decided to live my life,  that very day, I began to understand more of my writing prowess and wit.  It may look very easy to many people out there. They may look at it as just putting two or more words together to create a story but writing is beyond that. You have a call as a writer. You have many people who  look up to as a role model and they expect modesty to be your core value. They expect you to  be an object of societal change, an instrument through which changes are brought to the society.  You are the mirror to many people out there,  you reflect, teach and show them what they don't really know about the society live in.

We should try as much as possible to get back to the Reality of what life is and how it is built to suits each individual no matter how hard or easy it seems. Our busy mind will come up with plenty of exaggerated and unrealistic ideas that must be questioned out there but unlikely, to ever materialize but when we are locked in a prison of thoughts and activities of running up and down for those things we engaged in daily, these ideas seem so real and they tend to cause great suffering and depression to our life. The pursuit of goals, dreams,  satisfaction, pleasure,  aspiration, drives and those things we stand for. Negative thoughts of what life can bring or create anxiety and a whole load of mental pains because we leave our thoughts in the mind as though they are really happening in reality of our life. Just are the life of writers.  

If, for instance, we are worried about the future or we are frightened by the past,  it is likely we'll envision ourselves experiencing whatever traumatic event we are thinking about; which causes anxiety and suffering to where so ever we found ourselves as writers.  Hence, enhancing the way and angle at which we pursue these activities and who we are is very key to the future of what we stand for as writers and to those people who look up to us. The chances we have as writers,  the call for our rules, the depth of our thoughts and what we stand to achieve as writers depend on the objectives and what we perceived the world to be from the day to day activities of our life.

Meanwhile, There should be a clearer connection between us and the society and not being stereotyped as one who writes or think about himself, his emotion and his feelings alone. The core role we have to play is to be a voice out there to the voiceless individuals who are lost in desperation, those whom the society has extorted and those depraved of their rights. Those whose lives have been taken knowingly and the vulnerables in our society. In the face of injustice, we can create justice. In the face of sadness, we can create joy, in the face of war, we can create peace and love. We should be able to give a voice to the voiceless and give them reasons to live again and strive for more information that can change their lives. Besides, the call for understanding between you and your environments and trying to get your readers to know what the society requires from them is very important— Hence not forgetting that you're a role model and a voice to many out there, so modesty should be a great friend to you.

The routines we create in running the affairs of our life matters a lot. Our  goals, our timing, our Activities and the very Importance we put into our works as writers matters so much. The way in which we organize what we do daily is very paramount so that we cannot be easily frustrated in any way during the course of our writing and brainstorming. You are a god glowing freely in chase of what could be a better way to aid the society and your immediate Environments.  In as much as you write,  you have your own problem but the society look up to you for a particular course you are fighting for. We have many who advocate for the Girlchild, we have those that Advocate for the Boychild, Humanity, Sickle Cell patients, the vulnerables in the society, Domestic Violence and Many other things. People don't just write to entertain others, entertainment may be part of the reasons one writes but writers also should thrive to write to change some certain ills of the society. Not everybody out there knows that the need to express is still one of  the needs of a human being and when this need to express is not satiated, there is often a negative outburst that the society suffers from.

A writer that creates art addressing tribal intolerance for example, who is in herself intolerant, will slip up in her narrative. Sexism shows through, there’s no hiding who you truly are when you’re writing. From your work, people get to know more of you because you are what you write often. There's no hiding who you truly are when you are writing. Honestly, what you write seriously define your personality and your goal in life. People can easily get to know the truth about your feelings, your emotional stability through what you write daily. Many writers influence change in the  society by seemly writing from a place of truth, honest expression what they truly hold paramount and working with the circle of influence to change notions, educate, entertain, but most importantly, to pass a message to the voiceless in the society. Your amazing craft should  be a complete reflection of the happenings in your  environments and other places of interest. Different writers have different places of interest, some writers venture into love, while other ventures into cybercrimes, others fiction and all of that. You are the reflection of what you choose to write.

A very good example is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Adichie is a neo Africanist. Chimamanda's struggle is more for a new Africa than any other course. she is writing to change a course she so much believe in.she represents Africanism and feminism in her books and lifestyle. There is no change in her tone anytime anyday, but her  plot and setting she usually employ in her  writings what Africa mean to her and what she wants you  to know about Africa. Therefore putting ideologies based on her views toward the propagation of Africanism is certainly not going to end well. One thing we should know  is that  Adichie speaks about the future of Africa/modernity of Africa in most books she has written.

However,  to stir change within our immediate environment as a people, I strongly believe that writers have the duty to encourage the culture of writing and self-expression as the fundamental and that is where we should focuse our  strength in all our writings. Find ways to proffers solution to problems affecting the society through what you write and how you express them. Find a way to support other young writers, discover, groom and help in developing their talents to be able to fight the vices in the society and make sure you become  a voice to the down trodded and the illed treated in the society. I believe this is key because only well-guided writers can eventually develop into socially conscious writers.

©John Chizoba Vincents

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