A Writer's Commission

There are many occupations in today's society that require a person to obey a commission or an oath. Doctors swear to heal and cause no harm, military and police swear to serve and protect, and politicians and public officers are supposed to swear oaths of service to the people. There is a code of honor there, at least there used to be. The deterioration of society's morals is reflected in the people who take the oaths. After all, it is not the oaths or commissions that change, but the people. The Hippocratic Oath has been around for centuries. The words don't change. The conviction with which people say them does. This being the case, I believe it is the people who write such words who hold a lot of power. After all, someone, somewhere along the line, wrote those words by which people are supposed to live. Even the Constitution had a writer, and people who helped in the service of its creation, to form ideas and principles, but then the writer fashioned it all into words, sentences, paragraphs.

Writer's have the power to influence the minds of people from a variety of backgrounds. They have the power to affect change, and not just affect it, but inspire it. Nations and kingdoms have fallen to their destruction on the edge of a pen. This is what our cliche "the pen is mightier than the sword," attributed to Edward Bulwer-Lytton, is often invoked to describe. Yet, unless referencing Horace's "Ars Poetica," Alexander Pope's, "Essay on Criticism," or even vaguely John Milton's "Areopagitica," where is it written that a writer has a code by which to stand? And even those noted are geared more toward poetry and publishing than the duties of the writer.

So, the very people who hold power over everything written, and in an age where almost everyone or anyone can be a published writer, there is no code to hold them by. Publishing companies, a person would think, would be responsible for drawing the intellectual line between crap and actual writing. And yet, they don't, not if the results of today's modern books are anything to judge by. Either because people can self-publish, or are influential, or because those who read those manuscripts now do not respect the philosophies of the ancients, the contemptible "literature" is published. This is how our society ends up with crap-fiction and crap-writing that the minds of our impressionable youth devour. That is not okay. When this escalates even more into despicable books being transformed into despicable movies, the entire integrity of the fictional world is called into question.

Therefore, I write my own commission. It is my own code to promise myself and those who may ever read my work, despite the fact that I haven't published a thing, that I will live by as I continue to write.

First, I do not bow to the whims of others. I write for myself. I write to discover. I write to find the meaning of the world, and the facets of my God's character.

Second, I will write truth. To poison the mind is never my intent. There are dark things in the world, and this should not intimidate the righteous writer when seeking the truth. The words of Ted Dekker often echo in my mind when he said to paint evil with the blackest of brushes. To do anything less is to validate the existence of evil and give the Devil a foothold and a win where people could easily have slammed the door in his God-forsaken face.

Third, I will develop my craft. To be a "good" writer is not good enough. To be a "great" writer is subjective. I simply commit to better myself.

Forth, I will read. The best way to challenge myself is to read the work of others, especially those who have spent their years dedicated to their own mastery. 

Fifth, I will challenge the reader. I realize I am in a position to inspire and affect change, and I will attempt to never abuse such power; however, that does not mean I will not challenge beliefs or the way in which the world is viewed.

Lastly, a word of caution: do not insult my intelligence (or yours) by suggesting I simplify anything, as if I were to write to a child. Children's books have their own authors. I am not one of them.