Writers imagine that they cull stories from the world. I'm beginning to believe that vanity makes them think so. That it's actually the other way around. Stories cull writers from the world. Stories reveal themselves to us. The public narrative, the private narrative - they colonize us. They commission us. They insist on being told. Fiction and nonfiction are only different techniques of story telling. For reasons that I don't fully understand, fiction dances out of me, and nonfiction is wrenched out by the aching, broken world I wake up to every morning.
In her reflections, Arundhati Roy suggests that the creative process is not merely a matter of writers extracting stories from their surroundings, but rather that stories have a way of drawing writers into their grasp. She believes that narratives, both public and private, hold power over individuals, compelling them to share these experiences. This dynamic reveals the profound relationship between storytellers and the tales that need to be told.
Roy distinguishes between fiction and nonfiction as different methods of storytelling influenced by her personal experiences. She finds that fiction flows naturally from her, while nonfiction emerges from the pain and struggle of the world around her. This insight highlights the interconnectedness of a writer's creativity and the realities they confront, signifying that stories often seek out those who are willing to tell them.
