The Writer’s Choice: Engagement, Responsibility, and Authenticity.

Every time a writer sits down to write, they are confronted with and important choice :

Should he look outward, paying attention to the world around him, or retreat into words that shield him from that reality?

Should he listen, engage, and risk being drawn into the noise, or close the window, and allow his stories to exist removed from the chaos outside?

Yet, beyond the question of engagement lies a deeper responsibility, one to the world, to himself, and to the craft of writing.

What does it mean to write with true authenticity?

Can a writer truly claim authenticity if he overlooks the world unfolding beyond his walls?

To himself, he owes honesty. He must recognize his fears, biases, and desires. Writing is not just an act of creation but a journey of self-exploration.

The choice to engage or retreat reflects his character, but it is not neutral; avoiding reality does not make it disappear; it only postpones the inevitable confrontation.

To his fellow man, he owes awareness. Whether or not he chooses to participate, the world moves forward. Injustice, beauty and conflicts shape lives daily.

A writer does not have to become an activist but must at least acknowledge the world he inhabits. Stories, even the most fantastical, do not exist in a vacuum; they are influenced by the time, place, and the human conditions in which they are created.

And then, there is the responsibility to his craft. True authenticity comes not just from imagination but from a deep understanding and the sincerity behind each word. A story that overlooks the real world may become hollow, stripped of the weight of truth.

Once in a while, the writer must ask himself:

Am I being true to the world I see?

Am I letting reality shape my words, or am I creating an illusion that serves my own comfort?

The writer always faces a choice: to engage with the world's troubles or to retreat into personal narratives, to participate or to remain unseen, to lend his words to the world's unrest or to escape into narratives of his own making. In the end, his words will reveal not only his imagination but also the profound depth of his engagement—or lack thereof—with the world around him.