Calling all writers! An author’s plea (and/or rant):What’s the role of a writer when our readers have replaced contemplation with consumption?

The fast-foodification of our attention spans—and of our faith—is killing us from the inside out.

I’m not resistant to being creative in publishing, in working hard to connect with readers and promote my books in fresh ways. But I’m resistant to the dehumanization that happens to all of us when we demand new over nuanced.

After writing a manuscript with 365 stand-alone offerings, my brain is SPENT. And after doing this slow, creative and deeply researched work (with almost 500 citations), social media feels all the more depleting.

AI captions are out of control. (And stealing style from published writers’ works, like my own.) The algorithms are fine-tuned. Attention spans are nil and yet as writers, we must be content machines if we have any hopes of selling our books.

But even machines need an energy source. Even machines need fueled before they can perform. We all used to turn to social media to connect and create. Now we’re just consumption monsters fueled by outrage and an addiction to cheap dopamine hits.

Add to the fact that democracy is crumbling and injustice abounds at an ever-alarming rate…phew. It’s too much.

Publishing is a notoriously cut-throat industry. I’ve seen writers who got their start by being influencers on Instagram be shocked by that—they think they understand an ever-competitive industry because of TikTok or Meta—but they are blown away when 30-second reels don’t translate to thoughtful paragraphs, when thousands of followers don’t equal book buyers.

Sadly, Christian publishing is often a facsimile of the larger industrial complex. (I need to note here that I’m grateful to have personally had a great experience with my editors/designers/agent.) I just watched the America’s Next Top Model documentary, and the amount of exploitation for the sake of “good tv” happens just as much for “good book sales.”

Being an author is a role and vocation I’ve been working toward since 2006 when I entered college. I’ve worked my way into this world beginning in newspapers and magazines, starting as an editorial assistant and rookie reporter. I also know this work is an immense privilege. That as writers, whether we want it to be true or not, we are gatekeepers.

We are the ones who capture culture, who bleed our hearts onto the page, who tell the stories, who ask the questions, who celebrate, who mourn, who bring all of our noticing, all of our wondering, and pour it into paragraphs, our gentle, heartbreakingly human offerings to a concrete-coated world.

What stories are we telling? Who gets to tell those stories? What stories are we losing in this ever-changing AI landscape? Can slow writing bring us back to our humanity, to our connectedness, and to the One who connects us all?