First Aid for the Writerly First Responders

In the Dark Ages, did people know they were living in the Dark Ages?

I’ve been pondering this question of late.

We’re heading for uncertain times, and for many of us, the only certainty is that times will be dark.

And let’s be completely honest. Many of us have zero bandwidth to write right now. Zero, zip, zilch. If this is you, please cut yourself slack and resource yourself in whatever way you can. Poet/memoirist Maggie Smith writes beautifully about why we don’t all have to be literary first responders. Stillness is important. Please do read her lovely post.

But for those of you for whom the thought of writing to express and/or call for change is energizing for you right now, consider us your first aid crew.

As writers ourselves, we know that writing can be internally transformative. If we’re strategic and perseverant, and our writing finds a home, then others respond to our words and that writing becomes externally transformative too.

On November 6th, I wrote this very short essay. I thought about holding onto it, making it better, sharing it with my writers’ group before sending it anywhere. Yet as my agent stressed to me, when you have a “hot take,” a time-sensitive response that won’t be so timely in another week or two, it’s generally better to just try to get it out the door. She reminded me that I’d get mental feedback after sending it out.

The piece was published on November 11th at Midstory Magazine, a Substack publication I’ve come to admire. Writing and publishing something short yet crafted reminded me that I could still be creative, even—or maybe even especially—when I am unmoored.

Perhaps you, too, have a response to something happening right now that you’re needing to put on the page.

Perhaps there’s an op-ed inside you that’s itching to get written and pitched. (For a dose of inspiration, see this one, published on November 16, 2024 in The New York Times, written by a 16-year-old girl: “I’m 16. On Nov. 6 the Girls Cried, and the Boys Played Minecraft.”)

Perhaps you’re feeling that that half-written nonfiction book, the one that’s been plaguing you for years, is suddenly needed in the world now more than ever.

Perhaps you’ve been writing privately for years and would like to discover where there could be an audience for your work.

For the writerly first responders—those whose impulse is to jump to the page in times of confusion—Girl Meets Voice is here to support you.

In dark times, may writing be one of the things that brings the light.

Please feel free to share any writing you’ve come upon recently that is bringing the light for you, in comments.