Why The World Needs Writers

I don’t know about you but there are times when I sit down to write and think to myself ‘what is the point?’

Admittedly these are times when I am feeling particularly sorry for myself, but I am sure other writers can relate. All too often it can feel like an uphill struggle, a thankless, and often rewardless task that you pour your heart and soul into, and for what?

However, have you ever thought about what the world would be like if we didn’t have writing?

Of course, writing takes many forms, from business reports, to news stories, to novels and everything in between. The kind I am talking about is fiction writing, the stories that we make up, that we conjure in our minds, and the magical, beautiful, make-believe worlds we create where anything can happen.

Stories are incredibly powerful, and have been used for many years not just as a form of entertainment, but as a way of explaining the world around us, our hopes, our fears, and our dreams.

Writing and stories are, in fact, incredibly important, and the world needs them more than it knows. They educate and inform, they help us share and connect with others, they make us feel closer to our past, they help us to understand our place in the world.

If you aren’t convinced, let’s look at some ways in which stories can help us.

Stories inspire us

Stories can show us that anything is possible, they are often filled with characters, flawed and struggling, just like us, who are fighting to achieve something they never thought they could. Stories show us that being positive, and never giving up almost always gets you to where you need to be.

Stories give us a break from the real world

Sometimes the real world can be a tough place to live in, and it feels good to escape from it for a little while. Stories take us into worlds full of mystery and magic, they are where we can get completely lost and immersed in a place and a life that is not our own. Switching off from the world from time to time and truly losing yourself in another can be very cathartic indeed.

Stories help us to come to terms with things

Some stories are tragically heartbreaking, and yet there is something wonderful about them. There is nothing quite like the words on a page leaping out at you as if they were written especially for you. When you read something so sad, and yet so beautiful and clear that everything suddenly seems to make sense, and you gain a new perspective that helps you understand the sadness, failures and losses you have experienced in your own life, that can be a truly wonderful thing indeed.

The world needs stories, to teach us lessons, to explore its beauty, to believe in magic and to find hope where there shouldn’t be any.

So, next time you are feeling despondent about your own work try to remember this. Everyone’s stories matter, so make sure you write yours, and share them with the world.

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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