Writers – the most powerful people on the planet?

And God was the very first – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1 14, revised Standard version) Whichever supreme divine being created us did so through amazing visualisation and strong will to turn His / her dreams into reality. Our writing – our Word – is always more than just the words. It is the first step towards making what is imagined a reality. Amazingly good name for one of our main tools, Mr Gates.

It’s also interesting how we create facts by naming things,. This is what makes bullying so frightening, though there is a counter-charm: we can deny what is being said and say ti is untrue. More effectively we can also paint and manifest the opposite picture.

I remember once seeing a group of my students larking about in a local shopping centre. It was the end of term and they had just been let loose from school ready for the holidays. One moment I labelled them “hooligans” then I suddenly saw them as beautiful in their youth and vitality relabelled their activity “frolicking”.

But if all of this is a bit too new age, just consider this:

Think how much you have been influenced by what you have read and therefore how much power you have though your writing. Words are powerful enough. When written down they increase their power because they become more permanent. No wonder we talk about things being “set in stone” or that we always want things in writing.