Power to the People

Hello Readers,

Today I ended up getting sucked into the Internet. I started by looking up the number of times you can fold a piece of paper, regardless of type or size (I found out that for the longest time 8 was the maximum, until a bright girl by the name of Britney Gallivan figured out through math that 12 times is actually possible). As it usually goes, I don't know how I got there, but I ended up viewing an hour long presentation on a progressive movement on social science called Zeitgeist. I was so engrossed I ended up e-mailing, tweeting and facebooking about it.

The funny thing is that in the end I realized I could tie this in to the topic of today: Empowerment. Now, I'm not going to take a broad perspective on this, but merely will relate it to Simon & Sally. When there is injustice and helplessness (lack of control) there is opportunity for a heroic story. In writing the book series, I am going to touch upon five major injustices in the world, which present themselves through their social/global aspects, personal/internal conflict and an anthropomorphous villain. In the first book for instance the injustice is deforestation because of corporate greed by a scrupulous CEO. Simon, the hero of the story, is confronted with the effects of this injustice, then the seemingly lack of control he has to correct it and finally the empowerment he needs to overcome it.

The act of empowerment is a wonderful tool that can work on various levels. Especially in young adult novels one can use simplistic ways of achieving this, while addressing more realistic personal growth through it. In this case Simon will gain a magical device, which feeds into his natural creativity and in turn allows him to face the villain and his 'evil' agenda. But through it all the device is a mere proxy for Simon to tap into his own hidden reserves of personal confidence and conviction of a 'good' cause. Of course the metaphor is heavy-handed, as I am no experienced writer, but what I lack in subtlety I hope I make up in sheer enthusiasm. I love to dress this character development up in beautiful locations, colorful characters and an original take on magic (I for one always hated the lack of explanation surrounding magic a.k.a. 'it just works'). It is in its own way akin to performing a magic show where presentation draws the attention of the audience one way, while sleight of hand delivers the wonder of the act onto the unsuspecting viewers.

And I find myself becoming one with my creation. The revelations I find out I tend to incorporate (or at least touch upon) within Simon's story. When I viewed the latest presentation on the Zeitgeist movement I found it to be eye-opening in a global social-political way. It was a truly similar experience to finding yourself viewing a realistic painting, only to realize that your are actually looking at a window into the wide world, with you standing in a limiting building. You want to get out, because it's more natural to be out there. Friedrich Nietzsche said: "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you." That is how I felt. That for me is empowerment, because it challenges my beliefs to a degree that I am filled with motivation and strength to do something about it. This is what I want Simon to feel and through him, the reader.

How ironic is it by the way that a lack of willpower (surfing the Net) would result in a strong feeling of empowerment?

This is the last blog of a three-part take on Injustice, Control and Empowerment. I have talked about each in respect to the writing process, and what makes it so interesting. I now get why it is so fun to write. It's exploration and development of one's mind and the ideas that swirl around in there. I find myself fascinated by how a world of seemingly innocent characters and arch typical events end up making grand statements on meaty topics such as the three I mentioned above. So next time you pick up a young adult novel, don't be so easy to dismiss it as light reading - you'll be surprised by the hidden depths under the simple covers.