On Finding a Better Way
Old media may be dying, but nothing has risen in its place. As parents and writers, we have to clear the path ourselves—one lightpost at a time.
Having children gives you perspective.
A kid anchors you to your own childhood. Each acts as a time-traveling mirror that reflects an imperfect version of yourself but hints at something better.
My children are why I write stories. Your children are why I write stories.
There’s a better way
A couple of weeks ago, a better writer, marketer, and thinker than myself was willing to give me an hour of his time. He had read my frustrations with trying things alone, meeting that invisible wall I keep smashing my face into on this journey to be a writer, and so reached out to help.
So many things Raj said stuck with me that day, partly because he graciously let me take notes on my phone. But one question lingered:
What do you hate explaining to your customers?
Instantly, I remembered my time running social media for a national coffee chain. You’d be amazed how many repeat questions came in. I sadly don’t get asked too many questions as a writer, but I still knew my most hated question:
Where can I find good content for my kids?
The answer is equally frustrating: good content is everywhere and nowhere. To the indie authors who cheer that old media is dead, you may be right—but its condemned soul still haunts the place.
Disney swallows up IPs. Agents gate keep. Publishers push agendas.
And me? I’ll have four books to offer your kids by this time next week. Is it enough? Not by a long shot. But it’s what I have. I could rattle off the classics—Narnia, Lord of the Rings, maybe Wingfeather—but we need more. Old media may be dying, but nothing has yet risen in its place.
There is a better way for our kids. It will take more work from us as parents to excavate good stories from the deep, dusty shelves of independent authors while we wait for the giants to reform—or for something new to rise. It will take more work from writers to create them as well.
There is a better way for all of us. A harder way, but one worth the effort.
Why we do better
Proverbs 4:23 was the first verse I ever memorized and applied to my life as a teenager:
“Above all else, guard your heart, for from it spring the issues of life.”
As a parent, we are given the glorious obligation of protecting our children’s hearts until they’re mature enough to pick up the task themselves. Too often, we hand them entertainment with the mental, emotional, and spiritual nutrition equivalent of a Fudge Round: deliciously addictive, but ultimately empty.
As I often say, I write to provide something that is as entertaining as it is edifying.
A Faie Tale comes out next week, and it’s a story that gives me hope. I’ve loved working on Jabin’s story in the Kainos trilogy, but truth be told, it was often a slog to the finish line.
Isla, though—she brightens my day. Her story engages me even when I’m not writing. It gives me hope that children who read about magical creatures taking over the world might stop and wonder what they themselves would do in such a place.
There is no shortage of stories, but there is a shortage of stories worth reading. We owe it to our children, those imperfect reflections of our better selves, to raise them with imaginations shaped by what is good, not by junk.
A Faie Tale and The Jabin Kainos trilogy alone aren’t the answer. They are lightposts on a path. There are other posts out there, we’ll find them together. Because the more of us who choose the harder way, the clearer the better way becomes for our kids and the ones who follow after them.
