I'm not a writer on a mission, and I'm very suspicious of writers on missions, but I'm also not living a false life.
Marlon JamesRead
The fiction writer in me likes gaps in stories because I can jump into that gap and try to suggest something.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The author appreciates the unfinished aspects of narratives, using them as opportunities for creativity.
Marlon James expresses the idea that gaps or unfinished portions in a story are not limitations but rather invitations for writers to explore and contribute their own interpretations or narratives. This perspective highlights the creative freedom that fiction allows, as writers can fill these gaps with their imagination and personal insights.
Themes
FictionGapsStorytellingCreativityWriter
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, I shared a quote by Marlon James to encourage participants to embrace the unknown in their narratives.
More from Marlon James
All quotes βIf your depiction of loss doesn't make the reader feel loss, then you didn't depict it right.
Marlon JamesRead
I always tell my students to complicate your characters: never make it easy for the reader. Nobody is ever one thing. That's what makes characters compelling.
Marlon JamesRead
Not every gay person recites poetry or has read Keats. You can get readers through anything if the characters are complicated. You can't dismiss Josey Wales' quite liberal worldview.
Marlon JamesRead
Similar quotes
The urge to make art or contemplate philosophy does not go away when you are sick. Those urges just become transfigured by illness.
John GreenRead
The important question has nothing to do with whether the talk in your story is sacred or profane; the only question is how it rings on the page and in your ear. If you expect it to ring true, then you must talk yourself. Even more important, you must shut up and listen to others talk.
Stephen KingRead
When you're writing, in theory, everybody is serving you. When you're directing, you're serving everybody - in the guise of acting like everybody's serving you. But you're really serving the materials. You're serving the actors. You're in charge, but it's not free.
George C. WolfeRead
Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition.
Jack KerouacRead
I do not know what the spirit of a philosopher could more wish to be than a good dancer. For the dance is his ideal, also his fine art, finally also the only kind of piety he knows, his 'divine service.'
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Conflict and character are the heart of good fiction, and good mystery has both of those in spades.
Diana GabaldonRead