Why Write Fiction?
z In 1946, George Orwell published an essay, “Why I Write,” in which he
listed his four reasons: (1) sheer egoism, (2) aesthetic enthusiasm, (3)
historical impulse, and (4) political purpose.
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writer can function without ambition, but most would likely admit that
egoism can be dangerous. Aesthetic enthusiasm is a much more benign
and honorable motivation and probably also drives most writers.
z Akin to Orwell’s “historical impulse” as a reason for writing is
intellectual curiosity about a particular topic or even curiosity about
one’s own life. A novel is a way of thinking out loud to help writers
understand certain issues or to explain their own lives to themselves.
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show you the unmediated consciousness of another person,
revealing, as E. M. Forster put it, “the hidden life at its source.”
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any other motivation, it comes with consequences. One is the
risk of narcissism, the temptation to believe that everything in
your life is as interesting to a reader as it might be to you. The
other is the hurt it might cause your family and friends.z 2QH¿QDOUHDVRQWRZULWHLVWRHUDVHRQHVHOILQWKHFUHDWLYHDFW:ULWHUV
are achingly self-conscious creatures, and our live-wire awareness of
everything around us and the constant hum of our own imaginations
cause us to crave some sort of peace. Writing itself is an intensely
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characters and forcing yourself to think about things that most people
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from this acute self-consciousness in the act of writing itself.
o This motivation is tied to the desire to re-create the pleasure
you gain by reading books you admire, a pleasure that takes
you completely out of your own experience or even out of your
own self-awareness. This is not the same thing as reading for
escape, where your mind switches off and lets the narrative play