The best fiction is geared towards conflict. We learn most about our characters through tension, when they are put up against insurmountable obstacles. This is true in real life.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I think the best fiction is a form of psychological suspense, even though I don't really write in that idiom.
Fiction is often most powerful when the author is exploring an issue - and not writing like a know-it-all who has the perfect answer.
Good fiction must be entertaining, but what makes fiction special - and True - is that the realness of a novel allows it to carry a larger message.
The best novels are those that are important without being like medicine; they have something to say, are expansive and intelligent but never forget to be entertaining and to have character and emotion at their centre.
I think fiction lends itself to messiness rather than the ideal, and plays well with the ironies surrounding what happens versus what should happen.
The best fiction stays with you and changes you.
One reason we love fiction is because stories have a comforting shape. They provide a resolution that's lacking in our regular lives.
Fiction allows you to embody certain ideas and give them an emotional reality. The characters allow you to get close viscerally to an idea.
Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life.
I always try to create conflict and drama in my books; it's the engine of the novel.
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