Provocative

pro-voke (verb) 1. to arouse a feeling or action 2. to call forth

I was once asked to choose a word from a list that describes writers; my eye immediately fell on "provocative." Regardless of time or genre, every writer has the ability to nudge their readers' thoughts into his or her desired direction. I find the entire idea provocative.

The power wielded by a writer is immeasurable. The potential is limitless. Writers have been provoking their readers for millennia. Socrates was such a potent writer and speaker, he was sentenced to death for corrupting the young. The Harry Potter series is frequently accused of bringing young readers to a "dark side." Twain's classic novel Huckleberry Finn is often criticized for its portrayal of racism, even though it accurately reflects the time and setting. Writers have the ability to arouse the entire range of emotions that make up the human experience: laughter, sorrow, joy, anger, empathy, regret, bitterness, hilarity, fear, wonder, confusion...we can do it all with our words.

The first time I officially thought of myself as a "writer" was during a workshop in which I read an original piece of my fiction. It was just a short story, one that I had written in an afternoon, but I liked it enough to share with my group. When I finished reading it, I saw something unexpected in my audience. They were angry! "You need to change that ending!" I heard. "That's terrible!" I heard. I was thrilled! I knew I didn't write a happy ending and that some people may not like it, but they were actually mad at me! Now that's power, I thought.

All creative endeavors of any genuine quality will grasp people in a visceral way. Beethoven once discussed the power of music with a student of his. The student claimed that the power of music is that it "stirs the soul." Beethoven called him an ass. He said that the power of music comes from the composer's ability to make their listener waltz, march, sleep...whatever he chooses...depending on the type of music he writes.

As writers, we possess and should embrace that same influence. Creating real emotions that grab our readers in a genuine way is nothing to take lightly. Writers influence people in countless ways, obvious and sometimes subtle. Novelists, advertisers, journalists, speechwriters, editors, songwriters, screenwriters...even if a person isn't a self-proclaimed "reader," he or she is still provoked by writers.