07-13-2016, 06:06 PM
I'm curious what you think of this:
"No, these stories are not true, but they are the truth of what I'm working on now. The truth of what I want to capture and hold in my hands just long enough to bring it to life and then let it go. Truth? Lies? Or a little bit of both, woven together to become even more true. Perhaps that's my true job as a writer...not to tell truth, but to create it."
~Shanna Germain
Perhaps it's because I grew up in a family that believed in the truth with a capital T (even though I personally don't), it still feels like working something into my poems that didn't happen to me or wasn't part of the real story is cheating in some way. I don't feel at liberty to embellish or fill in the blanks with something that would make the poem better, because I feel like the facts should be enough. But, increasingly I don't think that they are always enough to make a compelling story for the page.
What say you?
"No, these stories are not true, but they are the truth of what I'm working on now. The truth of what I want to capture and hold in my hands just long enough to bring it to life and then let it go. Truth? Lies? Or a little bit of both, woven together to become even more true. Perhaps that's my true job as a writer...not to tell truth, but to create it."
~Shanna Germain
Perhaps it's because I grew up in a family that believed in the truth with a capital T (even though I personally don't), it still feels like working something into my poems that didn't happen to me or wasn't part of the real story is cheating in some way. I don't feel at liberty to embellish or fill in the blanks with something that would make the poem better, because I feel like the facts should be enough. But, increasingly I don't think that they are always enough to make a compelling story for the page.
What say you?