“I'd read so much right-wing crime fiction where they find the evidence and shoot the bad guy - I thought there must be another approach.” GuyFictionCrimeApproachEvidenceWingsBad GuysRight WingCrime Fiction Author:Denise Mina
“Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show that when we read nonfiction, we read with our shields up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard. We are moved emotionally, and this seems to make us rubbery and easy to shape.” StoriesShowsSeemsBeliefEasyFictionStudyShapesIntellectualEvidenceArgumentMovedCriticalNonfictionSkepticalShields Author:Jonathan Gottschall
“Until recently we’ve only been able to speculate about story's persuasive effects. But over the last several decades psychology has begun a serious study of how story affects the human mind. Results repeatedly show that our attitudes, fears, hopes, and values are strongly influenced by story. In fact, fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than writing that is specifically designed to persuade through argument and evidence.” WritingMindHumansFactsStoriesShowsSeemsAbleLastsValuesBeliefResultsAttitudeFictionStudyPsychologyEffectsSeriousEvidenceArgumentDecadesHuman MindPersuasive Author:Jonathan Gottschall
“If we are too friendly to nice, decent bishops, we run the risk of buying into the fiction that there's something virtuous about believing things because of faith rather than because of evidence. We run the risk of betraying scientific enlightenment.” IfsBelieveRunningFictionNiceRiskEnlightenmentEvidenceDecentBuyingFriendlyBetrayVirtuousBishops Author:Richard Dawkins
“Interviewer: Have you ever considered writing nonfiction? Mary Doria Russell: Oh, honey, I did! Let's see...There was "A Reconsideration of the Evidence for Cannibalism at the Krapina Neandertal Site." That was a big hit. And who could ever forget "Cutmarks on the Engis II Calvarium"? Then there was "Browridge Development as a Function of Bending Stress in the Supraorbital Region." I got tons of reprint requests for that one. Trust me fiction is better.” WritingBigsForgetFictionDevelopmentEvidenceFunctionStressRegionsHoneyNonfictionMarySiteTrust MeRequestBendingCannibalismInterviewersReconsiderationWriting Nonfiction Author:Mary Doria Russell
“Witness testimony is always flawed. It's better than circumstantial evidence, sure, but people aren't camcorders; they don't record every action and reaction, and the very act of remembering involves chosing words, actions and images. In other words, any witness who was supposed to be giving a court facts is really just giving them a version of fiction.” PeopleGivingFactsActionRememberFictionRecordsEvidenceCourtReactionsVersionsWitnessSupposed To BeTestimonyFlawedAction And ReactionCircumstantial Evidence Author:Jodi Picoult
“Even facts become fictions without adequate ways of seeing "the facts". We do not need theories so much as the experience that is the source of the theory. We are not satisfied with faith, in the sense of an implausible hypothesis irrationally held: we demand to experience the "evidence".” WayNeedsFactsFictionSeeingTheorySourceDemandEvidenceSatisfiedHypothesisAdequate Book:The Politics of Experience Source: The Politics of Experience
“Unless a writer lives with a periodic delusion of his greatness, he will not continue writing. He must believe, against all reason and evidence, that the public will experience a catastrophic loss if he does not complete his novel. The public is just clamoring to give him his fame. From the book Dare to be a Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction by” IfsGivingWritingBelieveDoeBookReasonLossPowerfulFictionNovelGreatnessKeysFameEvidenceDareDelusionGreat Writers Author:Leonard Bishop