Writing to Make a Difference

How arrogant of me would it be, to think that I’m writing to make a difference in the world?

When we think of writing, and especially, creative writing, to make a difference, we think of the smiles that we’ll spread, the safe and positive space that we’ll nurture, the sense of peace and contentment we’ll bring to the reader, and the positive changes that we bring to the lives of our readers. But how do we know of a way to write to be certain of the effects of our writing on each of our individual readers? No, we don’t know of anything like that, simply because we can’t know of anything like that.

I don’t know so much about the world or even human society to know what direction it should take. I don’t know enough about the others to make a decision concerning the choices that they should be making. I don’t know enough about myself to know what I should be making. If, despite all of that, I rush ahead of myself and begin to base my writing on the thought of wanting to make a difference, what would happen? 

Well, firstly, I definitely make some kind of difference or the other but who’ll tell me whether that difference has had enough impact or whether that impact was positive or not? At most, I can be certain that I’ll keep a clean conscience and my intentions will be ‘good’. But again, will the difference that I make be good or positive for someone else as well, and will it stay like that throughout different cultures and time periods?

The thought of making a difference is exhausting because the focus of writing, a purely joyous activity, a self-fulfilling process in itself, is then transferred to the perceived difference it is making instead of the act of writing and self-expression itself. Therefore, it becomes pertinent here to free yourself from the boundations of writing for others or writing to make difference. 

Now, of course, you can write for others as well but you shouldn't do it for yourself and your writing.

If your writing does make a positive difference in someone else’s life, it is something to be joyful about but that thought shouldn’t become the foundation of your creative self-expression.

There's no objective answer to 'Why do you write?'. Personally, I write for myself, to release myself. I write to free myself from all that defines me. I write for the sake of writing itself. That is all.