Artists are not cheerleaders, and we're not the heads of tourism boards. We expose and discuss what is problematic, what is contradictory, what is hurtful and what is silenced in the culture we're in.
Junot DiazRead
When I write, what I long for is not more realism or fiction but more courage. That's what I always find myself short on and what I have to struggle to achieve in order that the work might live.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a desire for courage in writing, which is more important than mere realism or fiction.
Junot Diaz emphasizes that in the process of writing, the essence of courage is fundamental to breathe life into one's work. It's not just about representing reality accurately or creating fictional worlds but rather about finding the inner strength to convey deeper truths and emotions in writing, which often requires vulnerability and risk-taking.
Themes
WritingCourageCreativityArtExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, when discussing the challenges of creating authentic characters.
More from Junot Diaz
All quotes →Run a hand through your hair, like the white boys do, even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.
Junot DiazRead
I can see myself watching him shave every morning. And at other time I see us in that house and see how one bright day (or a day like this, so cold your mind shifts every time the wind does) he will wake up and decide it's all wrong. I'm sorry, he'll say. I have to leave now.
Junot DiazRead
Migration gives a blank cheque to put anything you don't feel like addressing in the memory hold. No neighbours can go against the monster narrative of your family.
Junot DiazRead
We all dream dreams of unity, of purity; we all dream that there's an authoritative voice out there that will explain things, including ourselves.
Junot DiazRead
I think 90% of my ideas evaporate because I have a terrible memory and because I seem to be committed to not scribble anything down. As soon as I write it down, my mind rejects it.
Junot DiazRead
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