Why does anyone read?
That’s a question I’ve been wrestling with this week while working on a presentation I’ll be delivering for school librarians. See, books are my business as an author. I live and breathe them (sometimes, I even sniff them because nothing smells better than a fresh book).
And yet, I see people equate storytelling with books, and that’s so limiting. Books are a vehicle for storytelling. However, actual storytelling is so much more!
There are a million different directions I can take this conversation. For the sake of everything that’s going on in the world, especially in the region my ancestors happen to come from (I’m Lebanese, in case you didn’t know), I want to call out those readers who just read.
Get what I mean? No? Let me explain…
Long before I became an author, I was a reader and had friends who were readers. That hasn’t changed today. What also hasn’t changed, sadly, is the fact that many of us readers continue to miss the point of the books we get lost in. We assume the story lives solely within the bounds of the pages, missing the lessons we’re meant to take away.
Now, sure, some authors insist they write books with no major lesson. Books meant solely to entertain. And that’s good. Great, even.
However, most do write with intention. They imbue deeper meaning in their words. In fact, as a writing instructor, I encourage just the same in students (while also trying to talk them out of this writing thing because being an author, of course, is pure misery).
Consider your favorite book, movie, television show…why does it stick with you? Was there a deeper theme you can point to? I would wager there is, but the problem is not that readers don’t recognize these deeper themes and metaphors. Readers surely do in the context of the books.
But again, storytelling is BIGGER than books.
Can you recognize these same themes and metaphors in the real world? These stories do play out in real life. Even if a book is fiction doesn’t mean it’s untrue. Good fiction is truth.
Read that again. Good fiction is truth.
Some examples…
When you read The Hunger Games, recognize that it’s about how victims of a tragedy can become the aggressors.
Perhaps The Giving Tree isn’t about a boy taking advantage of a tree his whole life, but about how we take advantage of the earth.
All Quiet on the Western Front discusses the senselessness of war.
Are you getting my drift? Good, now take these themes and ask yourself if they apply to the real world.
Maybe the next time you see a politician advocating for oppression in the name of peace, you can recognize the familiar story there. You might remember The Hunger Games or other dystopian novels.
When you see someone angry and irritable, perhaps you recall that character who was going through a really tough time and recognize that this individual, too, is suffering.
That is the point of sharing stories, after all. Empathy.
So, please don’t be one of those readers who fails to apply the lessons of storytelling to the real world. And if you’re a writer (who I haven’t convinced to quit), then be sure there’s a deeper meaning to the stories you’re telling.
As I said earlier, books are a tool to help us get there, so keep reading and writing, but the world needs all of you to see the story outside of the pages.
And (shameless self-promotion incoming) if you want stories for all ages that are full of deeper themes and lessons, check out the Shad Hadid series, perfect for fans of Harry Potter but with an Arab twist. It makes a great gift for the holidays!