I need to remind myself almost every day lately that there is more to making the world a good place than overtly fighting evil.
We live in complex political times. As I write and publish this initially in late-2026 the political landscape of my home in Western Canada is undergoing a nationalistic push to secede from the Canadian confederation. We are in the midst of a referendum… and this post is not about that, but it is about something parallel: that being someone who makes stuff, writes stories, draws pictures, and posts introspective daily essays on navel-gazing topics can feel monumentally inadequate to the moment.
Look no further than social media. The click rate on my posts are trivial for my creative works compared to when I go online and start engaging politically. And it can feel like a kick to the chest to try to rationalize that the attention of the population is nearly entirely consumed by a tidal wave of political rhetoric and partisan conversation.
Particularly right now it feels like the last thing anyone wants is a short story by an amateur science fiction author.
…or some autumn photography.
…or screenshots from a video game I’m working on.
…or a sketch of a funky tree in the park.
…or—hell, the list could go on forever.
How do creative people stand up in the undertow of the ebbing and flowing tide and find a role in all this that is more than just another screaming voice.
But like I said, there is more to making the world a good place than overtly fighting evil.
A picture of a beautiful autumn scene, or a clip from the latest build of my indie game, or some simple sketch-work passed into someone’s social feed is not a distraction from something good, it is a diversion from the darkness. It is a reminder that among the so-called important conversation there still remains people holding a beacon light for humanity to navigate it’s way back to normality.
Terms FROm this POSt
- amateur
- How does one know when one is no longer an amateur? Strictly speaking, once one is paid for work, sure, they can use the label professional to differentiate themselves along that axis of skill. But on another axis, the beginner through expert and elite levels, there is a big swath of territory where someone can have many and probably enough skills to be adequately proficient at a thing while still having a multitude of learnings to overcome.
- Canada
- I write these words (mostly) from a small city on the Canadian prairies. It is written with an international audience in mind, but I don’t convert my units, hold my jargon or drop my elbows for readers beyond our borders, eh?
- indie
- Shorthand for independent with a slightly more specific meaning, it usually refers to artistic expression that comes from emerging artists or artists who are decoupled from corporate ownership. It has nothing to do with scale or popularity, but rather maybe more a bit of the purpose behind the work.
- science fiction
- I write this stuff. Or, I try to. Putting a finger on a definition for how to define this genre that encompasses everything from intergalactic alien space battles to insidious stories of near-future techno-dystopias… well, that’s more difficult. I read and watch a ton of this though, so you’ll almost certainly get some references on this project.
- short story
- Usually averaging about five thousand to ten thousand words, a work of short fiction is an exploration of a big self-contained idea in a small space, leaning into clear and intentional writing with an eye for literary economy.
- social media
- You almost certainly found this post because it was posted on someone’s feed. The platforms are terrible, but as it stands they are about the only way to find an audience in this crazy version of the internet. I avoid the socials when I can, but to ignore their existence is to toil forever in obscurity.
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