Conversations with Jane
How does fiction mirror real life?
We tend to think of novels as escapism, traveling into different worlds to put on the life of another person or other people. But in most fiction, writers are careful to make the situations believable and relatable. They want readers to return to their books, therefore they don’t write something so far-fetched that the reader throws the book across the room. Instead, readers have in their hands something that may transport them, most likely because they can put themselves in the character’s place, or they know situations like the one they are reading.
What do we learn by reading fiction?
Because we’re able to easily slip into this fictional set of circumstances, we increase the ability to also do that in real life. The book is saying, subliminally: here are a fictional set of struggles and obstacles that may give insight into real struggles and obstacles. Essentially, the fictional character is a stand in for a real person, and if we can have empathy with the fiction, we will have empathy for the real person. If we can bring empathy into our daily lives and apply it to the people we come in contact with, we’re better for it. Also, anything that draws you in and takes you on a ride of emotion of all kinds has the ability to remind you what it is to be human.
What are you passionate about that may or may not show up in your writing?
Cooking, food, and culture, exploring my own roots through cooking. Travel, solo travel in particular, things that take me out of my comfort zone and nudge me to meet and interact with people on their turf and not my own. Photography, using photography as a medium to improve my attention to detail and to pay attention in general, something I think really influences and informs my writing. Visual art appreciation, learning about different methods artists use, and of course, the people behind the work. I am also passionate about politics, the real nuts and bolts of campaigning, not the noise surrounding it.