The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
I have to admit, thinking of a constructive theme around screenwriting this month has been a struggle. How do I write about scene structure or character development, when the world is burning? Where do I find the focus, when anxiety is rising every day?
In the current climate, the name of our retreats, Nostos, has jumped out at me and keeps playing on my mind. Nostos, is a Greek word, which loosely translates as a “yearning for home”. It’s not quite homesickness, but something more visceral, a heartache, a longing for something left behind. The Welsh have a similar word, hiraeth, which, as I understand it, carries the same weight as nostos. “It’s not homesickness” I’ve been told “it’s something deeper.” As a Greek living abroad for over half my life, I get it.
And so do many others, and many more to come as refugees continue to pour out of their homes, their towns, their roots. In the midst of all this upheaval, I ponder on what I do and writing just seems… insignificant. There’s a sense of futility, of helplessness that’s descended — what use are my writing skills to anyone in this mess? Suddenly life has been put into a new perspective and I wonder, if this happened to me, what would I have to offer? I’m no soldier, or doctor, or have any skills that can make a difference…
Ironically, I caught a news interview with a Ukrainian screenwriter who has taken up arms to fight. And the Ukrainian President himself is an ex-actor and screenwriter… now the unwilling protagonist of an unfathomable story with a plot that no one knows how it will unfold. And it kinda hit me — we’re all just people, whatever our skills, who just want a decent world to live in.
Some writers are swapping keyboards for weapons. Unfortunately, that is their only choice. But the rest of us, those of us lucky enough to have the choice, can put our keyboards to good use. It may be a small contribution, but it is not insignificant. Now more than ever we need to think of the stories we‘re putting out in the world. Now more than ever, we need stories that promote humanity, tolerance, unity.
This is why we write, to make sense of the world, to examine the truth, to illuminate. The written word has power to challenge points of view, to sow the seeds for growth in new directions. To shape the global mindset and educate. We cannot control the world, but we can control how we wield this tiny bit of power that we have.
The pen (keyboard) is mightier than the sword indeed. Go forth and use it well.
written by Patty Papageorgiou
