The Role of Creatives in Tumultuous Times

 

This blog article is a little different than my previous ones. And, in some ways, it’s the most important.

It’s less structured and more conversational. I’m not using headings, because it’s all of a piece. 

It’s an open letter, fully from the heart, to an amazing community with so much Wisdom and Passion to give. 

First of all, I appreciate the opportunity given to me by Stage 32 blog editor Taylor Baker in 2021 to share my thoughts in this way during what I originally called “Times of Crisis.” Even though I have adjusted the title, it is indisputable that we live in Unprecedented Times. Times that don’t exist in a vacuum. Since 9/11, I have watched with fascination and terror as the Act I circumstances have initiated and unfolded, leading us into this Act II middle in which we find ourselves.

COVID-19 was certainly the new character that is essential for us to introduce at the mid-point of Act II to keep it from bogging down as it progresses toward the Climax. This new character interjects a new energy into the Hero’s Journey that considerably Raises the Stakes, setting up an Act III that should frighten and excite us all in equal measure. 

Will the Hero survive? Will the Big Bad prevail?

Right now, Act III seems very far away, and the odds are with the villains. 

In the past twenty-five years, due in part to social media, but also the growing planetary crises that stem from an increasing scarcity of resources (something that has been done on purpose by the Global Elite), I have seen Confrontation become the new Communication. I have mourned the death of Complexity as “Us and Them” and Othering along all kinds of societal and cultural lines have become the norm for many interactions.

But this is not a story of Hopelessness and Defeat. We as Storytellers are essential to the tasks ahead! We are inclined to see Problems as stories awaiting our Solutions. We know that Obstacles strengthen Character. We know that Hope brings Light out of Darkness. That we decide the ending.

Never forget that for a moment: We are the architects of our own endings.

In the past few years, I have seen a lot of encouraging signs about the roles Creatives can play in what I hope will be a world on the Other Side of this geopolitical and sociocultural shakeup that looks at things differently, modifies its priorities, and encourages Communication and Community.

This is exactly what many Creatives strive to do all day, every day as actors, writers, directors, composers, editors, and producers.

There is no question that these are times of Change. Dizzying change where Provocateurs and Disruptors are employing “artificial intelligence” (a misnomer: it is by and large nothing more than very fast databases filled with partially stolen data that is wrong as often as it is right and in many cases biased and given to stereotypes; sentience, the passing of the Turing Test, is being way oversold) to try to Overwhelm. It is a form of psychological blitzkrieg, designed to get you to GIVE UP.

One thing we know. The Hero never gives up, as much as they sometimes want to (think of Frodo at the threshold of Mount Doom). 

As I type this, it is hard to gauge just how much and in what ways things will Change. Are the changes permanent? Are they Overcorrections that will adjust organically over time? Is this merely a storm (or set of astrological alignments) we need to just wait out?

This I know for sure: Change means new stories will need to be told. Audiences will need new narratives. Because, the bigger the obstacles, the bigger the change, and therefore the greater the need. When the A bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the trauma was so outsized that a new art form was birthed, called Butoh, a form of highly expressive and evocative dance-movement. There is pain and beauty in Jazz, Blues, and Rap born from the deep wells of the experiences of slavery and racism, which are not just distant memories as certain narratives claim.

These are Life-Changing Times. That’s when storytellers shine. The Greeks and Romans—the playwrights and historian-philosophers—as well as poets like Blake, Neruda, Whitman, Williams, and Ginsberg—it’s their writing in Times of Crisis, in a Tumultuous World of rapid, frightening Change, that serves as our guideposts. 

Is it any wonder that all of the writers I mentioned above (and countless others) had a keen sense of narrative and character in their structure? 

Mark my words: Creatives will be immensely important to What Comes Next. One of my mentors, Toltec I-Ching master William Douglas Horden, told me 15 months ago, when my book on storytelling, Every Day Is a Story All Its Own came out, that I am not writing for the Crisis, but for the Aftermath.

Heeding his words, I am putting a lot of time and effort into being prepared for the Aftermath. 

Creatives are, after all, trained to be Visionaries. I have always believed that Story is the most effective way to make a case for positive Change. Which doesn’t mean being Dogmatic or Pedantic. It doesn’t mean that Theme supersedes Character and Story. It’s amazing how many writers talk about the Message of their piece. That complex characters get in the way of their Message. 

That’s the quickest, surest way to have audiences turn off and turn away. I have seen it countless times training advocates for social change who are preparing their “elevator pitches” for state legislators. Message = Data. Dry, storyless information in support of a singular Idea. An Agenda. But if you tell a well-rounded story, where conflicting opinions create the conflict, the pitch will be compelling. 

I understand this mistaken focus on Message. After all, we live in a world where, between advertising, politics, social media, and the 24-hour news cycle, it’s all about the Message. I don’t think I’m being particularly controversial when I say it hasn’t gotten us to a healthy, productive place where everyone is reaching their full potential.

A Message gives you only a single aspect of a story. Complexity allows for all of them. Each character illuminates aspects of the Theme or the Core of the story, by expressing their relationship to it in their particular way, their particular worldview, shaped by their history. That seems like the right recipe for the end of Othering and rebirth of Communication. It could lead to substantially more democracy in our Democracy, as my Golden Age of Piracy alter ego, Angus “Quill” MacGregor, always says. 

Creatives have the tools and insights to show the way.

Although, it is wise to keep in mind that director and theatre philosopher Peter Brook said that we (specifically directors, but I say storytellers in general) are guides to a place we have never been. 

Back to “the Pitch.” As Creatives, we need to be experts at “the Pitch,” which means foregoing scene-by-scene detail for an energizing tone and atmosphere created by emphasis on the characters and their journey through the story. That’s what excites and motivates.

How many times have you rolled your eyes and checked out when a writer starts telling you the story they are working on, beat by beat? 

So what is your Pitch as we navigate these Troubled, Complex Times and prepare to factor in to an appreciably larger degree on the Other Side? 

As you refine your Pitch, it’s important to know that those in leadership roles in the various sectors of society—primarily politicians—surround themselves with capable storytellers. Speechwriters, public relations agents, spin doctors, campaign strategists, and in this era of the 24-hour partisan politics news cycle, the media (although what that means anymore is in question; again, purposely. Remember the mantra of right-wing architect Steve Bannon: flood the field with shit).

If you wondered what that smell was, there you have it.

We have seen it play out on the state and national level day in and day out for nearly a decade.

What keeps us tuning in? And tens of millions have. It’s not the Data. Data can be checked with a few screen swipes on your smartphone. It’s the characters and the story they are telling through their own particular Wants and Needs.

New characters emerged on the international scene during the pandemic—governors, mayors, state health officials, and epidemiology experts.

Creatives need to be as smart and aware of how they use rhetoric, psychology, conflict, perspective, framing, and other high-level communication tools to Tell Their Story as these experts seemed to be (and be aware of that thorny word expert; it is a purposeful Abstraction).

The yelling, screaming, and bullying have been profound. The Provocateurs and Disruptors—a knot of interesting semi-shadow characters hawking compelling stories to disenfranchised audiences without revealing their paymasters—are having their 15 minutes of Warhol-esque fame. 

They are seizing the opportunity to fill the gaps in the story with their purposefully complicated narratives. It’s kind of an “I told you so” or “Now do you see?” approach that has frightened people tuning in. It also creates considerable cognitive dissonance.

They know what they’re doing. They’re trained in Story. Their videos, podcasts, and presentations clearly track in the Three-Act Model. 

I mentioned gaps. Story lives in gaps. Crisis creates those gaps. Part of the reason I tune in to these videos, podcasts, and presentations—other than their being a Master Class in character and narrative—is because the data during these Tumultuous Times have been contradictory and chock full of gaps.

Storytellers thrive in the gaps. That’s where we make our impact and our livelihood.

At the end of the day, if you want new Outcomes, you have to change the Story. 

And one of the stories that most needs changing is that Creatives don’t offer any value to society beyond entertainment and diversion (a proposition made worse by the growing use of AI in Storytelling).

I cannot tell you how often I receive requests similar to “do me a favor—just read this short story [screenplay, first five chapters of my novel, my entire book, etc.] quick and tell me what you think.” 

In all honesty, I do as many favors for family, friends, and colleagues as I can. I have made it my mission to  mentor emerging writers and actors. I’ve been a teacher in numerous creative disciplines for 35 years. But until we see our work as valuable to the health and progress of society, we will always be questioned. We will always be misunderstood and asked why we do what we do unless we are making millions of dollars from it.

This is a narrative that only we can change.

During the past 35 years, I have run an acting school, an arts education center, a multimedia company, and been the founding Artistic Director of a theatre company that at one time produced new works and conducted interactive bullying education workshops in two states with nearly 60 teen and twenty-something actors, all of which have emphasized that being a Creative is just the start. You must also be an active Citizen in your community and your world. 

It’s now more important than ever.

It’s disheartening to see so many writers on social media saying that they’re not able to write. In all honesty, this is the time for the Discipline of Craft. To be our own drivers, our own motivators. 

It’s a time to Inspire. To show the best of what you offer.

So what can you do?

Set daily tasks. Every day, do some reading. Do some research. Instead of just binge-watching a show passively, get out the notebooks, colored notecards, and graph paper and plot the scenes and arcs. Find character worksheets online (or contact me and I will send you one) and fill them in for the major characters. Reverse engineer the best of what you watch. I have been doing this for years. It’s the Discipline of Craft. 

Write about what you’re feeling and experiencing. Act it out. Put it on tape. Share it with the world. Someone needs to hear it.  

The ’Net is filled with instructional videos. During the pandemic, colleagues were contacting me every week wanting to put virtual showcases together to help performers who couldn’t get out into the world and share what they do. Like so many traveling Creatives, I had many events cancelled or rescheduled. 

I wrote a recent article on this subject:

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/04/all-worlds-stage-including-your-living.html

This is a good time to practice the Art of Showing Up [https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/03/developing-your-vision-and-voice.html] and to strengthen your Vision and Voice [https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/03/practicing-art-and-craft-of-showing-up.html]. Engaging on social media, signing up for pitches, submitting your work to contests and agents. Building a network and interacting with those who are doing the work of the Creative, day in and day out. 

For more on Networking, see: https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/03/practicing-art-of-networking-is.html

As for me, I’ve been working every day, making new contacts, forging networks and relationships for when we Emerge from the Other Side. And Communities—virtual and brick and mortar—will be more important than they’ve been in a very long time. That’s Terrific News. There will be a need for healing, for rebuilding trust, for finding new ways to live—simpler, more Authentically—and as they have after every Struggle humanity has faced over thousands of years, Creatives must be ready, willing, and able to be Leaders and Visionaries. 

People will look to us in the Aftermath.

As comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell famously said, “The cave you fear to enter is where your treasure lies.” Looking back on the past 35 years of my professional life as a Creative, I am glad I had the courage to enter the hundreds of caves that have continued to yield my treasure. 

This current cave we’re in as a society, as the collective of humanity, is the deepest, darkest, most dangerous cave many of us have ever known. So, as we explore it as a Community of Creatives, be Brave. Keep your vibrations high. Spread Hope. Be Authentic. Embrace Complexity. Live in the gaps where Stories live and thrive.

Above all, Just Keep Going.

I’ll say it again—I believe deeply in the potential for real Community and Authenticity on the Other Side of these Times of Crisis, in the Aftermath. 

In closing, as I always say: Every day is a story all its own. A new chapter. Another chance. What story are you telling? Dream it. Write it. Live it. And it will be so.

And right now, in this very moment, and on the Other Side, be a voice of Hope.

Every Day Is a Story All Its Own:

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/02/every-day-is-story-all-its-own.html