It does not matter whether a writer writes about any recognisable social or political subject as long as the quality of writing exceeds any such expectations. Agree? Disagree?

"All fiction has to have a certain amount of truth in it to be powerful," said George R. R. Martin.
But is powerful writing and good writing synonymous? I think so.
Both resonate with a reader, they stay with and affect them. Good writing is powerful; powerful writing is good.
But what is it that makes fiction powerful? I would agree with Martin, it needs some ring of truth.
Personal hardships resonate easily with a reader but so too does commentary on the modern world. I believe that what we write will inevitably have some political bias - whether intended it or not. It is our political and social ideas that colour how we view and experience the world, and fiction gives us a means of exploration that reality does not.
I, therefore, believe that it is not only important but inescapable, for these social and political subjects to be present within writing. James Lovelock says, "science fiction is a vehicle for people to view the reality of the state of our planet" and so too is political writing a vehicle for people to view and understand the society that we live in.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cheever’s narratives rarely end ‘happily ever after’. Why might a writer choose to make their characters suffer?

Why are Cheever’s stories ‘uniquely American’? What would make a story uniquely British?

‘No writer emerges from childhood into a pristine environment, free from other people’s biases about writers.’