Gerard Bianco Studio

            H ow is it that an author of fiction, a writer who essentially writes untruths, can evoke an emotional response from readers? Why are readers, many times, moved to tears, anger, or horror over fabrications?  How is it that some readers, after reading a mystery/thriller they know is essentially a made-up story, must sleep with the lights on?              This is the paradox of fiction - that readers truly believe the people, and the various situations writers put them in, actually exist, or did exist at one time.             Steven Schneider, from Harvard University , offers an excellent critique on this topic in his article written for The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a peer-reviewed academic resource.  Here is the link: http://www.iep.utm.edu/fict-par/                        Please feel free to comment.

Margaret Atwood, in her book, Negotiating With The Dead: A Writer on Writing , asks the question, “For whom does the writer write?” She then goes on to say: “A common writerly dilemma: Who’s going to read what you write, now or ever? Who do you want to read it?” "Image courtesy of Feelart /  FreeDigitalPhotos.net" So, how will you answer these questions? Have they ever crossed your mind? Are you in a quandary because, like many other writers, you are so blindsided by the urge to put onto paper the thoughts that are screaming to be released from your consciousness that you've never considered these questions to be relevant?  “I write for anyone who will buy my book,” is a reply I’ve heard many times over. But this is a stock answer and not one with much thought behind it.  I have come to answer these questions by paraphrasing the poem-filching postman from the film,  Il Postino  that Atwood mentions in her book. “My writing belongs to those who need it.”  Th