Karen GoatKeeper's Blog - Posts Tagged "challenging-your-ideas"
Stepping On Toes
What makes a book memorable? For me it’s one that pushes me out of my comfort zone, makes me think about some idea I hold as true and now must defend against new information, perhaps to keep it, perhaps to change it.
Edgy is the term used.
This doesn’t mean I want to read about my real life, good and bad. I’m living that and don’t need my nose shoved in it any further.
Instead I want to be a safe distance from these ideas. Fiction offers writers a chance to do that.
Consider “Les Miserable.” A man is sentenced to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. It reflected those times. It addresses our own times and how we view our justice system. Should we use prison time to try to rehabilitate or punish?
Consider “The Hate U Give.” We read about such incidents in the newspaper or see them on the news. We look at them through our own lens. We need to look at them from another lens as well to find solutions.
Which books talk to you? Why?
As a writer, I want to write books that talk to my readers long after they close the back cover.
Yet, we live in a time when so many people want the world to kowtow before them, tell them only what they want to hear and believe. If a book is edgy, it steps on these people’s toes. They won’t purchase or read it.
The world has a lot of people. Each person is a unique individual living a unique life. Closing our eyes to this and hanging onto our ideas, right or wrong or somewhere in between doesn’t help us live together peaceably.
As you consider the books you will tackle next year, add a couple challenging your comfort zone. Expand your life and your ideas.
Edgy is the term used.
This doesn’t mean I want to read about my real life, good and bad. I’m living that and don’t need my nose shoved in it any further.
Instead I want to be a safe distance from these ideas. Fiction offers writers a chance to do that.
Consider “Les Miserable.” A man is sentenced to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. It reflected those times. It addresses our own times and how we view our justice system. Should we use prison time to try to rehabilitate or punish?
Consider “The Hate U Give.” We read about such incidents in the newspaper or see them on the news. We look at them through our own lens. We need to look at them from another lens as well to find solutions.
Which books talk to you? Why?
As a writer, I want to write books that talk to my readers long after they close the back cover.
Yet, we live in a time when so many people want the world to kowtow before them, tell them only what they want to hear and believe. If a book is edgy, it steps on these people’s toes. They won’t purchase or read it.
The world has a lot of people. Each person is a unique individual living a unique life. Closing our eyes to this and hanging onto our ideas, right or wrong or somewhere in between doesn’t help us live together peaceably.
As you consider the books you will tackle next year, add a couple challenging your comfort zone. Expand your life and your ideas.
