Readers have power. They can start a book and finish it. They can start a book and stop reading after the first chapter. They can read up to a point where the content challenges their moral compass and choose to keep going or simply close the book. That power allows readers to find their space in the world of fiction. When given the opportunity to choose, we empower our readers to read, which is what we want, right? I mean, we want people to be literate and educated in more than just one perspective or subject. It is through the world of fiction that we get to see through the eyes of people who differ from us. We meet characters who are facing challenges head on. We get to feed our minds with fantasy based on reality or reality tilted toward fantasy. And we begin to question, appreciate, consider, and hope for more.
And in fiction, people are drawn to good storytelling. They are drawn to relatable characters. They are drawn to worlds built beyond one’s imagination. They escape.
Reading fiction frees us from our own minds, homelife, external surroundings for better or worse. And it is such a gift to give people a wide variety of genres to choose from. Writers are given creative freedom to exploit, challenge, change, and shock readers’ minds. And I do not take that for granted. No, I revel in the freedom that readers have to choose their place in the literary world.