Don't Die with a Flat Character Arc

 One of the ironic things about trying to build a platform online for potential readers is the fact that, in order to do so, I must encourage them to spend more time looking at a screen when I think most of the world's problems come from not looking up.

The deeper irony is that, without such things as social media, blogs, etc, our ability to get ourselves out there and known is slim to none. Can it be done? It has, it can, and it will again. But those who know how to do such things -- now that social media has swept the world by storm some 20 years ago -- the way business and marketing is done has changed, likely forever -- or for as long as we have this thing called the internet available to us.

So why do I dislike the screen?

I dislike it for many reasons. I love it, because it gives me a method of writing my book much faster than I could if I free-wrote it, edits and rewrites and moving parts around in the story are a breeze, and you can connect with people all across the country and the world. Social media has done wonders with connecting folks who thought they were alone in their lifestyles, beliefs, habits, etc.

But this is also why I dislike it. People are forgetting how to mingle in real life. They're prioritizing their scrolling instead of time with their loved ones. They don't know how to be still, be silent, let themselves pause. In the pause, in the silence, is where answers to our problems reside, our creativity is nourished, and innovation begins. Instead, we as a society tend to fear what's waiting in the silence. Some of us have good reasons, but most of us have just forgotten what it means to "be still."

Did you know there's a new diagnosis called "tech/text neck"? Did you know some of the youth are developing little horns on the back of their skulls to counteract the weight of their heads being perpetually tipped downward?

I'm sure I don't have to tell you how anxiety and depression are on the rise. Those are complicated diseases with multiple facets that manifest in different ways in different people with different triggers. And this recent political environment doesn't help. Spells, 2020 itself didn't help, and not because of the virus or the mandates you did or did not agree with, but because we were all so isolated that we not only climbed into our devices, but set up shop, made a cot, and started calling it home.

The true building blocks of life, love, and happiness are being squandered by the "truth" of our emotions. People cling to diagnoses and issues and shortcomings like that is who they are. That is NOT who you are. That is what you struggle with, and nothing more. We all struggle with things, but your problems are not who you are.

I think about the characters I'm growing and developing in my story and thinking about those I'm helping my critique partners grow and develop, and I look around the real world, and I wonder how many of us are growing and developing. How many of us, real life, flesh-and-blood human beings, have a character arc where we go from one sense of self to another? How many of us have positive character arcs, and how many have negative?

My biggest fear? That most of us have flat arcs, meaning that from point A to point B of the story, we do not change.

My biggest sorrow is watching people despise their lives; loathe Mondays; wish away their weeks so it's the weekend again; dread returning to work and life after vacation; staying in positions that do not serve us. It further sorrows me when I see new trends like this ridiculous, idiotic notion of "quiet quitting" taking TikTok and other social media platforms by storm. If you haven't heard of it, I'll summarize it like this: you'll do nothing but the bare minimum of what your job describes and what you are expected and paid to do. Now, on the surface, this is fine, but people get ahead by going above and beyond what is expected of you. Can some employers take advantage of a good work ethic? Sure. Folks can take advantage of anything, and it is up to us to set the boundaries. But to glorify and flaunt mediocrity and complacency... it is utterly heart-wrenching. If you DO find yourself in a position you dislike, do not stay there, but do not burn bridges, and do not dampen your own self worth simply because someone else doesn't recognize it.

Anyhow. This is the catch-22. I love interacting with people. I love the relationships I have built and am building with the folks I have met through none other than social media platforms. Without them, I wouldn't have the critique partners and writing groups I have. I wouldn't have similar minds to converse with and do life with (at least in the virtual sense). It is a wonderful and amazing thing.

My intention is to use this forum, and others, to help build folks up so that, while they may turn to the internet and me and other sources for fun facts or entertainment or information, that their lives are not spent in front of the screen. Because at the end of the day, we put our computers away; we put our phones away, and there the silence of life awaits us. It can either be our best friend or our biggest enemy, but I find that I hear my desires of my heart, my soul, and the calling of my Lord Jesus Christ the best in the silence. So I encourage you to embrace what awaits in the silence. Any discontent is simply you trying to alert yourself of something that needs to be addressed. Don't ignore it because it is challenging. The best things in life come after a challenge. Challenges grow and change and develop us.

And by God, grow and develop. Do not end your life with a flat character arc and wonder where your life went. It's here now. Go; live it. Use the tools you have at your disposal, but remember their place: they are tools. You use them, they do not use you.

God bless, Conduits. Updates and more peppy news forthcoming. :)

Jess