Today’s guest post is by author Lisa Bennett (@LisaPBennett), author of Ecoliterate.
For the past ten years, I have been writing—and trying to write—about climate change. It’s a topic few of us really want to think about it but, as a Mom, I worried about what it would mean for my children’s future. Doing something felt like part of my job as a parent. And if I could inspire others to get engaged in climate action through my writing, I thought, that would be one, small good thing.
I was so wrong.
No matter how much I learned—about what can be done about climate change and, more significantly, how to use psychological, communications and brain science research to overcome the obstacles to our focusing on this issue—something in my writing just wasn’t working.
The problem, I discovered, was my motivation. By trying to inspire other people to get engaged in something that I was concerned about, I was caught in the trap of writing with an agenda. And while that might be appropriate for activist communications, it is not appropriate for personal essays, which is what interests me. There, few of us trust or, more fundamentally, like it.
To write effectively about any social issue (and perhaps especially one as controversial as this) I had to change my focus. I offer the three insights I uncovered here as guides to anyone else who might be struggling with a similar writing challenge.
1. Toss out your agenda.
I once met the poet Wendell Berry while reporting on a protest against mountaintop removal coal mining. It was a small, unusual protest. Berry and about three-dozen writers, farmers, former coal miners and activists were planning a sit-in in the Kentucky’s governor’s office. It was interesting, I thought, but from a practical standpoint, hopeless. So I asked Berry directly: “Do you really think this will make a difference?”
“I don’t know if it will make a difference,” he said. “But that is the wrong question. The right question is: Is it the right thing to do? I know it is the right thing to do.”
It was a simple, wise and empowering way to think about any action, including writing. And I took it to heart. Having an agenda—specifically, a goal of persuading others—meant my definition of success rested on something I could not control: how others responded. The better guide, I realized, was that simple question: Is it the right thing to do?
2. Be more humble.
To give myself a goal of influencing other people to take action on an issue I believed to be critically important made me feel as if I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. It also made me feel ridiculous, since I wasn’t, in fact, having an impact. This is a trap that both activists and people trying to write about social issues can easily fall into. It’s also as off-putting (and ineffective) as trying to address a relationship problem by trying to change your partner’s behavior instead of your own. If I hoped to write well and freely, I had to give up the arrogance that stemmed from focusing on other people and take a closer look at myself.
3. Be more honest.
In a moment of despair bred of one too many rejections, a wise friend asked me: Which is more important to you: To do something about climate change, or to be a writer? I didn’t have to pause to think. I am a writer, I said. And instantly, I realized I needed to approach the topic differently—not by trying to move other people to some desired end but by exploring as deeply as I could my own story about being a mother in the dawning age of climate change. This was a story of what it feels like to know that people we love are at risk of something we feel we cannot control. It meant diving deeper to be more honest, more real and more vulnerable.
So this is where I am at now. I do not yet have a finished product, or a sure-thing success story. But it is good to know the true story I want to tell—and to be reminded that a writer’s touchstone should never be persuasion but truth. And, for me, for now, that is enough.
Lisa Bennett is co-author of Ecoliterate, a contributor to The Compassionate Instinct, A Place at the Table, and other books. Read her blog here or find her on Twitter at @LisaPBennett.
You can’t quote enough Wendell Berry for my taste. Also sales numbers, social media shares, and accolades can be deceptive, and if we seek them from a false foundation, they’ll never be enough to satisfy us.
Thanks for the observation, Ed. Agree on Wendell, the truth-speaker. And great point about the pitfalls of seeking social media and other #s. I find it disorienting when I get caught up in it — and suspect any rise will happen happen, at least for someone like me, when I keep the focus on simply sharing what feels real to me.
I like to believe that if I get to plant a seed that might motivate or change just one person, it’s worth the effort. But this perspective is even better. It’s the right thing to do regardless. If I plant a seed for change, that’s icing on the cake.
Thanks, JoAnne. Happy to have been able to pass on Wendell’s words of wisdom.
I totally agree and totally disagree — and that’s what good thinking / writing does, creates a nexus of duality. Yes, story gets at the heart of the matter, and for some, story — especially personal story — can be a better persuasion. But for others, story is not enough; this is why I blend science, psychology, art, philosophy, and history in my personal writing. I write about the ethics of native plant gardens in a time of climate change and mass extinction — I see supporting ecosystems and wildlife with native plants as an ethical response to caring for myself, my family, and others. I have an agenda — we all have agendas, and we will all be called out as having them by someone who doesn’t agree with us. I think you have to write what you feel deep in the gut and let the chips fall where they may. Persuasion is witnessing, and what we’re witnessing is an ethical crisis that goes beyond tree hugging into the very roots of our culture and who we believe we are as a species. Language empowers and dis-empowers, which is its greatest power. Write your passion with equal parts humbleness and activism and I think you have the ingredients to casting a wide net. Write honestly, and your passion will be infectious. Write fearlessly, because the worst thing writing can do is be unfaithful to its core impulse.
Your comment, “Write what you feel deep in the gut and let the chips fall where they may,” strikes me as a great touchstone as wise as Wendell’s.
Thank you Lisa for this timely post. It struck as chord as I am writing about my involvement in a primary school for orphans in rural Uganda and know exactly what you mean when you say there are times you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. I learned early on that I can’t change the world, but if I can make a difference in the life of one child, it’s still infinitely rewarding. And if my experiences are written without an agenda, humbly and honestly, they are much more likely to touch people. Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure, and thanks so much for letting me know it touched you. I looked at your blog, too. Great work you’re doing. All best with it.
I don’t really understand the fine line between having an agenda and having a passion. I read somewhere that JK Rowling has a passion for racial and social equality so she portrayed prejudice via wizards and muggles. Isn’t that an agenda? What about TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD? That seems very agenda driven but yet is classic American literature. If you are writing about climate change and that doesn’t interest me, I won’t read your book. But eco-fiction is MY passion so I gobble that up. Why not be clear with your motive? I’m confused why the idea of having an agenda is so frowned upon in literature. It’s certainly not the case in other artistic mediums. No one can look at Picasso’s Guernica and not see his agenda. Am I missing something?
Hi Carolyn, Thanks for the good question. For me, writing with an agenda feels like writing that is focused on trying to change the way other people think or act; and I find that corrupts the authenticity of the writing. Writing with passion, in contrast, leaves me utterly free to express my truth and see what comes of it for other people. That strikes me as the better, more respectful, and ultimately more powerful way to go.
Wonderful post, Lisa. As someone who reads, writes and activates around climate change every single day, I really took to heart your story about Wendell Berry. The right question to ask IS: Is it the right thing to do? I also feel it is the right thing to do. We all approach this from whatever angle appeals to our sensibilities. So glad you write from heart. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Ronnie. And absolutely agree: We all have to do what comes naturally. And it certainly would be boring if we all did it the same way!
So the right thing to do is humbly speak your truth. YES!!! Thank you so much for this affirmation.
My pleasure, Sarah. Thanks for commenting. I know I can always bear being reminded of this.
This post arrives at just the right time for me as I consider beginning a blog and am writing some sci fi Thank you all.To be real and honest and present truths the best I can is my plan.
I’m so glad, Lynda!