The possibility of being as free with the camera as we are with the pen is a fantastic prospect for the creative life of the 21st century.
Carlos FuentesRead
I always felt a little worm inside me: 'Now you need to write a novel with a woman protagonist.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the internal urging of a writer to pursue their creative aspirations, particularly in representing diverse narratives.
In this quote, Carlos Fuentes expresses a personal struggle and motivation as a writer, feeling an internal compulsion to create a novel featuring a woman as the central character. This underscores the importance of representation in literature and highlights how writers often feel driven to explore voices and experiences that resonate differently from their own.
Themes
WritingNovelProtagonistWomenCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, a participant could use this quote to inspire discussions on female representation in literature.
More from Carlos Fuentes
All quotes →Writing is a struggle against silence.
Carlos FuentesRead
Literature overtakes history, for literature gives you more than one life. It expands experience and opens new opportunities to readers.
Carlos FuentesRead
One wants to tell a story, like Scheherezade, in order not to die. It's one of the oldest urges in mankind. It's a way of stalling death.
Carlos FuentesRead
No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to protect themselves from our society. I don't want to be like that.
Carlos FuentesRead
You have an absolute freedom in Mexican writing today in which you don't necessarily have to deal with the Mexican identity. You know why? Because we have an identity... We know who we are. We know what it means to be a Mexican.
Carlos FuentesRead
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Literature is dangerous: it awakens a rebellious attitude in us.
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He's a great writer. If I didn't think so I wouldn't have tried to kill him... I was the champ and when I read his stuff I knew he had something. So I dropped a heavy glass skylight on his head at a drinking party. But you can't kill the guy. He's not human.
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Listen closely. There’s a remote possibility that you might learn something: First, I don’t give a damn if my work is commercial or not…I’m the writer. If what I write is good, then people will read it. That’s why literature exists. An author puts his heart and guts on the page. For your information, a good novel can change the world. Keep that in mind before you attempt to sit down at a typewriter. Never waste time on something you don’t believe in yourself.
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