In addition to the “Cooking Around the World” blogs I’ve been posting, I’ve joined a group of writers called the Open Book Blog Hop – Writers Writing on Everything. I love this blog hop because the topics, like me and most of you readers, are very diverse. This week it’s “Quality vs Quantity: when it comes to things in life you value most, why do you prefer and why?” and next week it’s sex. Yes, as you can imagine, I’m kind of interested to hear what will come out of my mouth—and on to the paper—next week.
As part of the blog hop, we like to introduce readers to new/other authors, so if you’re interested in meeting a fellow romance author—and one in the throes of National Write a Novel Month—you should pop over and meet Tracy Kimmer.
So now, on to the topic at hand. Ambiguity is one of the things I like about writing fiction—I suppose the same could be said for some non-fiction these days but I think fiction gives me the opportunity to play with ambiguity in a way that sometimes reality doesn’t. And really, what is more ambiguous than the terms “Quality” and “Quantity”? I know, you’re probably thinking there are a lot of things more ambiguous than age old question of quality vs quantity and while I can’t really argue the point (or I could, but probably not effectively) I do think that question is significantly more ambiguous—and interesting—than we give it credit for. Because though ambiguity can be fun in fiction, real life has its fair share too.
For example, what do I value most in life? Family is the first thing that comes to mind. But do I appreciate quality more than quantity? I don’t know. My instinct is to say quality, but we moved back to California in order to be closer to more family—we had none in Seattle (that were blood related) and we have a fair bit here in Northern California. So maybe quantity wins? But really, what is quantity when it comes to family if you don’t have quality too? And while there are some members of the family I’m really close to and the quality of our relationship is great, others not so much. Not that the relationship is bad by any means, it’s just there because we’re family and we have a shared history and shared roots and we enjoy each others company even if we don’t always seek each other out.
Hhmm…and that begs the question of just what makes a relationship a quality relationship? Is it the quality of the persons involved? Certainly that’s part of it, but is it everything? Like all families, we’re filled with people and people are inherently flawed. And let’s be honest, some probably more so than others (I’m not excluding myself from that category). But does that make them (or me) any less important or cherished? I don’t really think so. I may value a relationship with someone, or them me, even if we believe (or in our own ego know) the other is deeply flawed. And so I’d argue that it isn’t always the quality of the person that determines the quality of a relationship—what does determine the quality of a relationship I can’t really say and I’d really only suggest that it is different for each person and for each relationship. Which brings me back to why fiction is so fun to write (because we get to explore all that psychology even if it isn’t present in our own reality), and why I’m glad I joined this blog hop (because really, there is very little a philosophy major likes more than waxing poetic on ambiguity!).
And so I’ll conclude by acknowledging that my philosophy professors would be very proud of me today. I have left you with more questions than answers but maybe also just a little something to ponder—when it comes to family what do you think about quality vs quantity?
If you want to check out some of the other authors on the blog hop (or join in) check us out here!
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