Writing Truth, Writing Lies
Recently I had the pleasure of going to the book launch of Glenice Whitting’s Pickle to Pie. (Interview here.)
One of the things that truly stood out to me was when she talked how Pickle to Pie came in to being. Given this can be one of the most inspiring (and most stubborn) moments in a writer’s life, I take care to pay attention to how other writer’s find their stories – or, how the stories find them.
Pickle to Pie started with postcards written in Old High German. Glenice had them translated and in translating them, she began finding her heritage. In finding her heritage, she also found a story.
As she said at her book launch, writers tend to start stories in truth. I know I’ve said in the past that authors are basically liars, but we are also so much more. Writers are also mirrors who reflect truth at people.
As writers, we reflect back at people their secret dreams and fears, the places they want to go and the people they want to be. That is truth, and truth is the seed of a story.
As annoying as it may seem, “Write what you know� is probably the best advice anyone could ever give you, because what you know is the truth of your life. I know what it’s like to fly across the world. You know how a writer struggles. The next person knows how to run a household on a budget. While all this may seem boring and trivial, it’s truth. Seeds.
So the next time you sit down to write and find yourself faltering – write what you know, even if what you know in that moment is that if you stand up just a little, you can see over the fence into the neighbor’s kitchen window…
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