I write what feels real. I write things that are informed both by my own experience and by actual history.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of authenticity in writing, drawing from personal experiences and historical truths.
N. K. Jemisin's quote expresses a commitment to writing that resonates with truth and realism. She underscores the belief that authentic storytelling is rooted in both personal experience and factual history, suggesting that these elements contribute to the depth and richness of literary work. This approach not only enhances the credibility of the narrative but also connects readers to the universal human experience.
In practice
In a motivational speech about creativity, one could use this quote to inspire aspiring writers.
Magic is the mysteries into which not everyone is so lucky, or unlucky, as to be initiated. It can be affected by belief, the whims of the unseen, harsh language. And it is not. Supposed. To make. Sense. In fact, I think it's coolest when it doesn't.
I don't really understand why so many fantasy writers choose to focus on worlds that just seem strangely denuded. But to them, I guess it doesn't seem strange. And I guess that's their privilege. It isn't mine.
Reactionary movements can't sustain themselves unless they find something new to catch and burn on.
There's a thriving field of self-published stuff in, particularly, black fiction. I don't know that other groups of people of color have that same recourse.
Fantasy is fantasy. It's fiction. It's not meant to be a textbook. I don't believe in letting research overwhelm the fiction. That's a danger of science fiction in particular, as opposed to fantasy. A lot of writers forget that what they're doing is supposed to be art.
I've always believed that as an artist, as a writer, you need a lot of contact with other people to make your art good.
A lot of children don't have a developed aesthetic. I did. I made early choices in life, even about cloth; I liked flannel and not polyester.
A work of art may be understood as a conductor from the artist's mind to the viewer's. But it may never reach the viewer, or it may never leave the artist's mind.
The realists do not take the photograph for a 'copy' of reality, but for an emanation of past reality, a magic, not an art.
The beauty of jazz is that it can accommodate all styles. You can take jazz and put rock in it, and it's still jazz.
Storytelling was a way to see the world bigger than the one you were looking at, and that had great appeal for me. I think, since that was part of my upbringing, it became part of me, and I wanted to pass it along to my kids and my grandkids.
An often-repeated assertion in the body of film criticism I have written is the assertion that movies do not just mirror the culture of any given time; they also create it.
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