When I set out to become a freelance story developer, I did so for one primary reason: Humans become their best selves and live to their fullest potentials when they live true to purpose. And to this end, many of the authors with whom I work are or intend to be self-published, whether going through the traditional processes and selling their whole books as fully packaged and contained stories or choosing serialization via alternative publishing platforms, like Substack and Medium.
Regardless of the author’s publishing path or their sales goals, every author I work with has one thing in common: They prioritize human creativity over robotic machination.
They have to.
Arts, and the artists who create them, seem to be in rare form these days. From the warnings about AI-generated books being peddled on popular sales platforms to the influx of AI-generated music used to fluff playlists to AI-generated imagery being slapped on covers and products, one may believe humans are now at the mercy of the robots, that our livelihoods are at stake, that the artwork we produce is somehow less valued than it was before because robots can produce “art” faster and more consistently than our very human hands could ever produce.
While there are endless discussions about and applications for ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, CoPilot, and others, I’m not witnessing The Great Robot Takeover of the 21st Century, the one I was told would definitely happen if creators sold their souls to the robot overlords. Instead, I’m seeing something else occur, a much-needed shift toward the analog in spite of digital tools.
Welcome to the New Renaissance of the 21st Century, a rebirth of art and artistry and a creeping denial of robotism in favor of humanism.

Human stories create movements
Some of the best books I’ve read seemed to live on the edges of movements, as if the authors who penned them took up silent calls to action and then rallied their readerly troops for battle.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 1939 and resulted in congressional action to help protect migrant workers and their families from slavery conditions. While the book was controversial, hated in pockets all over America (I’ll let you guess which pockets hated it most), it sparked an undeniable social movement and legislative action.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is another controversial-but-wholly-needed book that comes to mind, as Carson’s work exposed serious problems with big industry and sparked the modern environmental movement, resulting in the banning of the pesticide DDT and saving the Bald Eagle population in America.
And it’s not just the books you may have read in school that carry high impacts:
- Yaa Gyasi explored the long-term effects of slavery and colonialism in her novel, Homegoing.
- Delia Owens worked through survival, solitude, and earth stewardship through Where The Crawdads Sing.
- Kiley Reid used humor to discuss the complexities of relationships and the social expectations of race and privilege in Such a Fun Age.
Sure, these books are works of fiction, but like other great artworks, these books (and many others) imitate life in a way that reaches down into the marrow of the readers who encounter them, living in their bones, as symbiotic organisms; moving their feet and hands; turning themselves into talking points and outlooks; becoming philosophies.
Readers want good books, of course, but again and again, readers look for something more. Something bigger than them. Something they can chew on long after the final page. Something that fans their inner fires and rings their inner bells and sounds their inner alarms and sees through their inner eyes the world which is sometimes chaotic and dark and hopeless and beautiful just the same.
Since you’re (presumably) human, you may wish to share your art, your philosophy, with the world, inspire readers to act and create change for the better.
Make a statement through your fiction
When a reader encounters a book that hits them the right way, that book will live rent-free in the reader’s mind for the long haul. The more volatile and divisive the topic, the greater chance of inspiring, or disgusting, the reader. The more important a social message, the more easily that message will be attacked. So before you make a statement in your fiction, make sure you’re emotionally prepared to handle all that comes with it, both the positive and the negative.
When I wrote The Witch, I wanted to share a message about deceiving appearances, the quiet goodness found in nature, and the bombastic evil that sometimes exists in the hearts of men through a retelling of Hansel and Gretel. And when a reader said, “This was a great story about books and covers. Assumptions and Entitlement. A great parable for the ages.” I knew I’d hit at least close to the original bullseye.
Acknowleging parental neglect and abuse is a biggun for me, and I will always advocate on behalf of the children being ravaged by abuse. Being a parent myself, I understand the tendency for control and authority, though I also see a deep and evergreen need to allow children to become their best selves even if they become different people than we’d imagined. And a kindly old woman existing outside of social mores highlighted the importance of mentorship and care outside parental relationships for children who don’t have good role models at home.
When writing fiction to share your message for humanity, ask yourself:
- Why is this issue important to me, and why am I being driven to write about it?
- Does my passion for this live in advocating for something or protesting against something?
- Do I understand enough about the opposing view to do the topic justice and handle it with empathy?
- Which character is best positioned to demonstrate this issue in action and send the right message to readers?
The number of topics one may write about is staggering and endless, ever-changing with cultural norms and taboos. And there are certain topics that seem to come up again and again, each sharing from a slightly different place, a different perspective.
Fiction author Kenneth Myers shared an important article last year that I revisited today in which he discussed Using Speculative Elements to Explore Real World Issues, and his article links some broad topics to modern fiction available today, if you want another layer to this conversation.
January’s reading roundup
All story editors and writers should read a lot, and widely – nearly cliché advice, sure, but it stands the test of time all the same. In January, I read four novels, all of which happened to be penned by women, and all of which I’ve tracked in my 2025 Reading Goals via The Storygraph.
Here are the titles I read this past month and a bit about why you may want to read them to enhance your writing, too.
- Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid: The story of Daisy Jones & The Six was reminiscent of other young and up-and-coming acts from the 60s and 70s, and though the heroine is fictional, her life mimics the realities of many rising stars of the time. The format allows the book to stand out stylistically.
- The Witch Elm by Tana French: The slow-burn unfolding mystery of The Witch Elm leads the reader into relative comfort before redirecting them to the uncomfortable. While the story meanders a bit, the backstory provided enhances character well and connects the characters to their settings.
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus: From start to finish, I was bound up in Garmus’ writing. Cheeky, wry, darkly funny at times, and poignant through and through, Lessons in Chemistry is a fiction that could well have been a memoir instead, as the heroine’s experience rang lived and true.
- When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill: Speculative fiction is most powerful when it straddles the line between the real and the unreal, and When Women Were Dragons is a shining example of such straddling. I was hooked from the first page, though the outcome wasn’t wholly what I expected, either, which was delightful.
So, what messages do you write for humans through your fiction, and why do those messages matter to you?
Happy writing!
♥ Fal
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Fallon Clark is a story development coach and editor with more than a decade of experience in communications, project management, writing, and editing. She provides story development and revision services to independent and hybrid publishers and authors spanning genres and styles. And in 2018, she had the joy of seeing Forever My Girl, one of her earliest book projects, on the big screen. Fallon’s writing has been published in Flash Fiction Magazine and The MicroZine. Find her online at FallonClarkBooks.Substack.com, or connect with her on LinkedIn or Substack.