I am a storyteller who creates imaginary worlds. What
would ours be like if I made it up? Well, there would be no disease. No one
would be blind, deaf or crippled. There would be no language barrier. Weapons
of mass-destruction would be obsolete. None of these particulars would be to turn
the world into a paradise. They would be to rid it of things I find boring.
Most of us live in an imaginary world. The propaganda is
true. Our struggles are good against evil. We are the heroes. Our opponents are
the villains.
Our delusions inspire our fiction, usually for the
better. Reality is usually grueling, anticlimactic and morally ambiguous. The
propaganda is exciting, epic and morally satisfying.
I was a student of history who lost interest when I realized
the interesting things were embellished if not outright untrue. The legends and
propaganda were better. They were interesting.
Reality is boring. We believe it to be otherwise when we
are convinced the legends and propaganda are true. I know better. Still, why
let all that inspiring make-believe go to waste?
I write fiction, usually what was once called “weird
fiction.” Fantasy, science fiction and supernatural horror are weird fiction. It is dramatic. The
heroes and villains are larger than life. The struggles are epic. They are very
much like legends and propaganda.
I believe in truth. My fiction is not disguised as
nonfiction. My stories are everything wonderful about legends and propaganda
without being false.
The problem with history is that is never really changes. It's also not quite as interesting as what we can imagine. I don't see why we constantly need history books. It seems more like we are just trying to make it more interesting than it was. Fiction is way better and has a hand in producing our future.
ReplyDeleteIndeed reality is boring, the legends and propaganda do feed our imagination. We shouldn't let them go to waste, inspiration is meant to be used to create something better. Your stories are proof that fiction can ring true.
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