Forum Post: Reaching Out Through Fiction
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 23, 2011, 9:18 p.m. EST by k5rakitan
(22)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I just want to say that if you want to reach out to people who are not being reached, especially young people, fiction is a great way to do it. Even if you are just an amateur writer, you can reach people by writing stories that parallel modern events. I'm sure that many of you have read 1984 and other classic fiction works that inspired people to take action. Well, what I am proposing is very similar.
By writing fanfiction, for popular TV shows, you can reach a lot of people. You won't get paid or anything, but it is a lot of fun. I am writing a story for Yu-Gi-Oh! fans called "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." Actually, the title is inspired by a David Rovics song and he believes in the creative commons, so you can re-use the title for other stories if you want. Go ahead, give it a try!
The new Muppet movie is catching heat for being anti-one percent. Lol. They must be worried about the social and political unrest if Muppets get their undies in a bundle.
Lol! Sounds like a fun one to watch.
This is why we are here this is why you are needed.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/inside-job-documentary/
Share, circulate, educate, inspire.
Absolutely, but the thing is that some people just don't like watching/reading non-fiction. You have no idea how many times I have tried to get my boyfriend to watch "Who Killed the Electric Car." He just won't do it even though I keep telling him that it is very well-made. That is why we need some fiction as well to get people to understand what is really happening and the deeper implications of it to our human species. People want some romance to sweeten their stories.
Tell him The Bourne Identity guy narrated.
That it is an action Documentary.
Have popcorn ready and maybe a couple of beers.
Good Idea! He loves the Bourne series!
Thanks :)
You welcome.
It's topic friendly too. Reaching out through fiction.
Check this out could be real good fun.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/irs-could-resellrent-foreclosed-properties/
If that event didn't happen then write about it: But just make it happen first http://occupywallst.org/forum/occupy-new-year-eve-and-day-2012/
Thanks! I'm a West Coast person, but I'm sure that Occupy Oakland will be doing something along those lines :)
I've done that once. It even got published in some small literary magazine.
I have it on my website.
I've been told it is quite chilling. I don't care for the dialog. It's kinda . . . I dunno. The dialog is off - but there isn't much of that, and the rest is fairly tightly written.
I hope you enjoy it.
Wow! I agree that was quite chilling to read. My strategy is a little different. I'm drawing in readers by matching up some of their favorite characters romantically and then getting into the dismal part later. I watched the Yu-Gi-Oh! series when I was a teenager and grew attached to the characters, so I love reading the fanfiction as well as writing it.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7579792/1/The_Best_Democracy_Money_Can_Buy
I could write a hundred stories like that.
I mean, a guy sees his wife's car parked in someone else's driveway - walks in to find a college party in full swing, she's in a back bedroom having the time of her life - he leaves, goes out to his truck -
and the keys are gone?
So he takes the rifle out of the gun rack -
and finds himself on death row .. . .
I'm not so hot on putting jealousy of that nature that into stories. I realize that it is a basic function that we have evolved to protect our mates so that only our genes get passed on, but I think that we should try to rise above that as a species. Given that we now have some very effective birth control options, people can do so much more with their lives than worry about whose genes are going to go into his mate.
His keys were missing from the pickup.
He got out, went in the house, saw what he saw, came back
duh
Hmm... I think I'm missing the point.
What a person does with their keys is usually - or often - an automatic thing. It's like your shoes - I've just mentioned them, so now you are thinking of them, until I did mention them you probably hadn't given them a thought since putting them on.
Same with your car keys.
Either you always put them in the same pocket - or you leave them in the ignition.
The case I mentioned actually took place in Texas, I read about it in the NYT back in the late 90s.
What happened to his keys?
I don't know.
My guess?
someone took them.
but they left both the truck itself, and the loaded weapon . . .
So, someone framed him?
I would guess it was something much much worse than that.
As far as I know there was no question that he actually pulled the trigger.
OK! I guess when writing it is important to make sure your audience can understand what is happening. It is good to leave a certain amount to the imagination, but sometimes the message just doesn't get across.
you've never heard of
have you . . .
A guy named Lloyd Home [or Holme, I've forgotten] claimed in Psychological Record 18; from 1968:
That is a sweeping statement.
What do you think that means?
What do you think the proof looks like?
and just how many proofs do you think they need?
I'm just saying that the average reader might not be smart enough to get it the first time, so they need to be spoon-fed a bit. After all, that's how we got into this in the first place. The mainstream media spoon-fed people corporate crap for so long that they started to believe it.
Like Asimove, Heinlein, or Rand?
Yep! Asimov is one of my favorite writers, too! :)
Agreed. All three of those are tied for first for me.
I'm a huge science fiction fan, so I think that Asimov and Bradbury are tied for first. I have not read Heinlein or Rand yet.
I think Heinlein is a master. I only wish my English teacher would let me read his novel Time Enough For Love to do my book report on. Its a little disappointing because there is just so much philosophy packed into it. People on this forum tend to shut people who enjoy Rand's novels down. I have a theory why but that isn't really important. She in my opinion was a great author with valid ideas and philosophies. Atlas Shrugged is a little too much for some people but there is a lot to go into and I read somewhere that she really wanted to drive her point home.
Time Enough For Love is actually on my reading list. It is one of my boyfriend's favorite books and it is on the shelf waiting for me, so I am going to read it soon. I'll have to check out Rand of of these days, too :)
you are advocating indoctrination, and that is wrong.
Hmm... You mean like we have been indoctrinated to believe that corporations have our best interests at heart through millions of advertisements? This is more of a counter measure.
No I mean putting hidden political messages in shows for kids is not ethical and indeed indoctrination. The mass brawl in the midwest mall of America earlier is a result of liberal indoctrination.
Honey, conservatives are the ones doing most of the indoctrination. Now, please relax your amygdala for a moment and take a look at the world objectively.
Honey, that isn't a logical statement. It makes a claim that isn't backed up with anything. Sorry sugar. So maybe it's you who needs to look somewhere besides Comedy Central and Bill Maher to get an objective view of the World.
I don't watch TV. I don't even have a TV service. I decided to take 16 units of upper division economics classes at the university instead. Lol!
pats Brandon37 on the head Now, if you're a good little troll, maybe I'll feed you some more.
Still in school huh. Well, that figures. I gathered that from the mentality. I graduated with honors ten years ago. So little one, once the real world pushes you around a bit, you can re-evaluate your Bill Maher stance. Otherwise, be careful who you attempt to talk down to.
I'm out of school and looking for a job. I have no car and never eat out because it is too expensive. You think the world hasn't pushed me around? I just don't let it get to me.
As my favorite song goes....
No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that refuge clinging; Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?
interesting. ill check it out.
Definitely do! If you have a favorite TV show, movie or book series, you can easily write the characters in an Occupy scenario. I recommend building up to it a bit first, though. Showing the state of the world and how we got there in the first place is important. Otherwise, the readers get confused. Readers get drawn into reading a story by romance, so that's another thing that you can do as a subplot to keep them interested.