Let's stop reflexively comparing Chinese writers to Chinese writers, Indian writers to Indian writers, black writers to black writers. Let's focus on the writing itself: the characters, the language, the narrative style.
Celeste NgRead
In fiction you're not often writing about the typical; you are interested in outliers, the points of interest. Part of it comes from feeling I was the only Asian or person of colour... another part comes from my personality: I'm an introvert, and my usual survival mode in a large group is to stand by a wall and watch everybody.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the uniqueness of storytelling in fiction, especially focusing on characters who stand out rather than conforming to the norm.
Celeste Ng reflects on the nature of fiction, highlighting that writers often gravitate towards 'outliers' - characters or stories that are remarkable and deviate from the ordinary. This perspective is influenced both by her experiences as a person of color and her introverted personality, suggesting that her storytelling is as much about identity and observation as it is about creativity and imagination.
Themes
FictionOutliersStorytellingIdentityObservationIntroversion
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop, while discussing character development, I might quote this to highlight the importance of unique characters.
More from Celeste Ng
All quotes βSpend enough time wrangling a toddler, and you get good at being kind but firm. Like your child, you must be doggedly single-minded when it matters.
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For me, any story I tackle begins with the human relationships and not the plot.
Celeste NgRead
It's so easy, as a writer, to get stuck in your own head, to live in the little worlds you create. To forget that there are people out there reading your work, people who may be deeply affected by what you do, that you are writing not just for yourself, but for them.
Celeste NgRead
What I remember about race relations in the 1990s is that you showed your awareness by saying you didn't see race, that you were colour-blind.
Celeste NgRead
Writing is like shouting into the world. So when someone shouts back, it's a really big deal. To have people who read hundreds and hundreds of books a year say, 'Hey, we thought this was really great,' that's a huge self-esteem boost.
Celeste NgRead
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