Writing to Change the World

by Mary Pipher
Riverhead, 2006, 256 pages

I'm currently taking a class called Writer as Witness, and I thought Writing to Change the World might offer me more insight into ways writers can witness the world in order to help change the world.  This book is geared towards people interested in writing nonfiction as a form of activism.

Mary Pipher is a therapist known for writing nonfiction books to help bring attention to important issues.  A few of her other titles include: Hunger Pains: the Modern Woman's Tragic Quest for Thinness (1997), The Middle of Everywhere: The World's Refugees Come to Our Town (2002), Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls (2005), and Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World (2009), amongst others.

Pipher is a licensed and practicing therapist, and she uses writing as a tool to inform the public about issues she sees with her clients and in the community.  Writing to Change the World is her call to arms, in the form of the pen.  Pipher encourages all people, not just people who identify as writers, to speak out about their passionate causes.  She reminds us all that we have important, unique perspectives and that we have a responsibility to use our experiences to try and change the world for the better.  Pipher firmly believes that writing to inform and educate can change the world.

Within this book, Pipher includes a few stories about her own background as examples of how perspective and experience can inform an individual's decision to write.  She also includes a creative nonfiction piece she wrote as a therapy case file where the United States was personified shortly after the Sept. 11th attacks.  The piece is both funny (the US has some serious emotional problems) and sad (Uncle Sam is in a lot of denial).  Pipher's examples clearly demonstrate how someone can draw readers' attention to important issues.

Pipher also includes information about writing craft.  Voice gets particular attention, as she is trying to help people use their voices in activism.  The craft elements are a good introduction for novice writers, but more experienced writers might want something with more depth or more complex examples.

If you care passionately about a subject and want to write nonfiction, Writing to Change the World will inspire you to draw your pen in defense of your cause.

You can find Dr. Mary Pipher's website here.

And here is an interesting article about Dr. Pipher returning her APA award in protest of torture techniques.


Readers:  What topics do you care passionately about?  How will you address them in your writing?