[stylist] Creative nonfiction and use of the word lie

[Eve Sanchez]

Just to be clear, worms do not turn into butterflys. Diolch, Eve

On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 1:39 PM, Bridgit Pollpeter <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>wrote:

> But transformations are not the same as "lies." When a worm turns into a
> butterfly, does it now mean it's a lie to say it was once a worm? I
> agree with what you say that artist shape their craft turning
> experiences into personal things, and how what we experience as a
> collective can turn into various different forms, but the word lie is
> not exactly the right word. Lying means not true, never happened, and
> this is not what CNF, or other art forms, are doing. It may be a skewed
> view of something, it may be different from what others think, feel,
> experience, but it's not untrue, based solely on something that never
> happened. We are now delving into philosophical realms, but in a
> nutshell, what you are stating is that memoirists are writing about
> things that never happened, which is what "lie" means, and I'm modifying
> that word to say memoirists are not creating material from scratch but
> using real-life experiences and constructing art by creatively relaying
> those experiences. You may think the word lie is a simple one not
> implying certain things, but it does not even fit your definition here
> in this post. Taking away your own truth from an experience, forming
> your own views, opinions, it doesn't suddenly make the content of ones
> life and art untrue, a lie. This three-lettered word has very rigid
> definitions, and the views you express on this topic don't really fall
> into that solid definition.
>
> Oh, and sorry if I have been spelling your name incorrectly. Since it's
> a more commonly used name, I assumed the spelling of it was L I N D A. I
> know about people misspelling a name because my name is always
> misspelled as I'm I T at the end and not E T or E T T or E T T E, grin.
>
> Sincerely,
> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
> Read my blog at:
> http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>
> "History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
> The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2012 11:34:22 -0500
> From: "Lynda Lambert" <llambert at zoominternet.net>
> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Creative nonfiction is not made-up material
> Message-ID: <3D8C81AC0E914EDE9324F7E052F58AFE at Lambert>
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>        reply-type=original
>
> I have to say I am fascinated by the strong, and very strange, reaction
> that
> a little three diget word has  aroused. Who knew that to meniton a "lie"
>
> would bring on such passion. It makes me smile to think of it!   I am
> accustomed to dealing with discussions and distractions in the college
> and
> university classrooms where I have taught for many years. It goes with
> the
> territory. But, it is fun when even I am surprised.
>
> Artists and writers lie and steal. I plead guilty to both and I
> certainly
> hope that the hundreds of students in my classrooms over the years
> learned
> to do it, too. Professors and our ideas have a way or reproducing and
> multiplying.
>
> We take something from one place, and we take it to a different place.
> We
> are like a turck driver - we pick up a load, travel with it, and deliver
> it
> to another place. It is never the same when it reaches the final
> destination. A transition occurs in transit.
>
> Our load is "ideas" and "inspiration" and "a hunch" or an "obsession."
>
> It is  from this  stuff that our creative work emerges.
> And, sometimes even we are hoodwinked by our own sacred cows.
>
> Lynda (spelled  L  Y  N  D  A  )
>
>
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