A note for others who are working on narrative change for social good topics like the ones I get to work on (ie interrupting mass incarceration, protecting migrants & refugees, an accelerating environmental justice & sustainability initiatives).

*A character’s journey | Created by Jay W. Austin & DALL•E*

You’re working on big issues that aren’t always easy to grasp and explain. You’re talking about systems and science, and the villain in your communications are often about a person or a corporation or a philosophy.

You might be tempted to follow this common advice: humanize the issue.

But before you do that, try to determine if a human is gonna be the most compelling protagonist of your story.

I encourage you to think less about humans (yes, I know how that sounds and I’m good with it) and think much more about characters.

Characters don’t need to be human. They should evolve in small-to-big ways, go through things, and have some flaws.

(One thing that happens when non-profits humanize issues is that they actually deify or victimize the humans in the story. They become too perfect or too helpless.)

Anyways, find characters in your story that are gonna go through some shit. Share the shit and let others either fall in or out of love with those characters. Let them feel like they have some influence over that development.

Before you humanize, characterize.

Oh and on a side-note: before spending any money on a shiny advertising agency, invest some money into training everyone in the organization on how to spot and develop great characters.

Aye, I’m Jay. You’re on my personal site where I post things I make about interrupting mass incarceration, protecting migration, environmental justice & sustainability, language, communications, storytelling, creativity, and tech.

Learn about my ventures here, check out my non-profit initiative here, or explore my consultant services here.