Let me put it this way: when I read, I learned the world was not as small as my house. And that everybody in my home town was not representative of the way people in the world were raised. And that was what saved me.
Terry McmillanRead
Don't worry about how pretty (the story) sounds, how lilting it is, and the imagery, and the metaphor, all that. Most readers don't care. It's the people in your book that matter.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of a story lies in its characters, not in its stylistic elements.
In this quote, Terry McMillan emphasizes that what truly captures a reader's attention is the authenticity and depth of the characters within a story, rather than the aesthetic qualities of the writing itself. She suggests that the emotional connection and relatability of characters are far more important than how the prose is crafted, urging writers to focus on character development over stylistic flourishes.
Themes
CharactersStorytellingWritingNarrativeAuthenticity
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, I reminded fellow writers that it’s the emotions of the characters that keep readers engaged.
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In fact, most artists want to make things a bit more difficult for themselves as they go along, to challenge themselves.
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I try to create characters people want to sit with, even if nothing is happening.
Jason ReynoldsRead