The Novelist As Teacherโ: โI would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach my readers that their past โ with all its imperfections โ was not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans acting on Godโs behalf delivered them.
Chinua AchebeChildren are young, but they're not naive. And they're honest. They're not going to keep wide awake if the story is boring. When they get excited you can see it in their eyes.
Chinua AchebeActually, I identify with all my characters, good and bad. I have to do that in order to make them genuine. I have to understand them even if I don't approve of them. Not completely - it's impossible; complete identification is, in fact, not desirable.
Chinua AchebeI think as you grow up and you see things which are around you and you ask questions and you hear the answers, your situation becomes more and more of a puzzle. Now, why is it like this, why are things like this and since writing is one way in which one can ask this questions and try to find these answers, it seems to me a very natural thing to do, especially as it meant stories which I always found moving, almost unbearably necessary.
Chinua Achebe