You guys… I was so excited when I received a HINT that Neal Shusterman was going to be a guest at the writer’s festival!! I texted a friend and was fangirl-ing like mad.
I’m still kicking myself for missing out on getting tickets to his workshop on writing dystopias – but still grateful that I got to see him at Between Life and Afterlife, which was a cozy fireside chat between Neal Shusterman and the moderator, Neil Humphreys.
The talk was styled as a retrospective – it reminded me of BBC’s Movies That Made Me. In this instance, Neal spoke about what made him the storyteller that he is today, and also spoke at length about the seeds that formed the basis of some of his more popular books.
I really enjoyed about hearing this process. What stood out to me was how Neal allowed himself to be affected by what he was reading/seeing in the world around him. He paid attention to those emotions, thoughts, questions and transformed those questions into books… Neal shared that he didn’t really feel like he had many answers, but offered an alternative thought: “… If I can come up with the right questions, we’re halfway there”.
It also struck me that the concept of perspective makes Neal’s stories so compelling. Many of the books from Neal are based on pretty terrifying premises. I imagine that as an author, it can be easy to stray into melodrama… which can serve to make the setting somewhat artificial.
However, as a reader, I find myself believing wholeheartedly in the worlds that Neal describes. I wonder if it is because he dutifully bears witness to what happens in these societies – those these things may indeed be deplorable.
I also wonder if it is because these societies don’t feel too far away from where we currently are as humanity… 😦
On that note, Neal spoke about how fiction is a tool of empathy – writing what you “don’t know” means needing to learn more about the backgrounds of those who are unlike you, enabling you to see the world through a different lens.
I’m guilty of blocking/muting those people that I don’t agree with on social media. It’s too easy to stay in my bubble online. But I’m thinking about how it may be important to open myself up to experiences with other human beings in “meatspace” (per Austin Kleon).
Meeting a human body/being who may think differently, live differently from me may cause some degree of friction, but maybe it can also offer an opportunity to strengthen the muscle of imagination + compassion for other people + broaden my understanding of the vast range of lived experiences that people go through everyday.
Tough though, hahah! It requires a restfulness/readiness to be open, and to listen.
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Anyway, I met him and he signed my books, yay! Hehehe.
N
the quarter light 