Writing Prompt #49: THE AUTHOR V. THE WORLD
Hi Everyone,
I’ve just reread Nabokov’s SPEAK, MEMORY for the umpteenth time and was struck by this line:
“In a first-rate work of fiction, the real clash is not between the characters but between the author and the world.”
So, this isn’t exactly a writing prompt but more of a thinking prompt. What is our titanic battle with the world? What are we wrestling toward via our stories? Subverting? Reconfiguring? Interrogating? What does the world get wrong (Let us count the ways …) that our writing might redress, or at least essentially supplement?
Please feel free to post your thoughts here. I’d love to hear what you’re thinking!
Abrazos,
Cristina
My purpose in writing is to present the human face of The Other. That is also why I read the narratives of writers of color. The more we read of culturally diverse works, the more evident it is that regardless of culture, language or ethnicity, there is an underlying universal humanism that connects us all. This very universal humanism negates the caricatures and stereotypes that continue to infest our society. That must stop. It is only by telling our stories. our way, that we move the national dialogue away from stereotype to the essential truth: we are more alike than we are different.