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
There are a couple of strategies for writing about an absence or writing about a loss. One can create the person that was lost, develop the character of the fiancee. There's another strategy that one can employ, maybe riskier... Make the reader suffer the loss of the character in a more literal way.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote discusses strategies for depicting absence and loss in writing.
Junot Diaz highlights two approaches writers can take when addressing themes of absence and loss. The first is to create a vivid character for the person lost, providing a sense of connection and depth. The second, more daring strategy, involves immersing the reader in the experience of loss itself, which can evoke a more profound emotional response.
Themes
LossAbsenceWritingCharacterEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, a participant may use this quote to discuss narrative techniques.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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