[stylist] Quote to ponder

[Donna Hill]

Bridgit,
For me, fiction must have a sense of truth and reality about it. The reality
draws us in, saying that somehow we can relate to this because we see a
character - no matter how fantastical -- doing something ordinary like
smelling a flower, eating a meal, dressing, worrying and so on. Once drawn
in, we can see a truth that transcends the fictional vehicle that has been
chosen to carry its message to a greater audience. 

One of the problems in the greater world of writing that bothers me these
days is the eroding of journalistic standards. For instance, it was an
online sports site that finally decided to check into the Mante Ta'o story
(the Heisman contender/Notre Dame football player with the imaginary
girlfriend. None of the major or not so major networks, none of the sports
magazines, no one looked into the story for months. 

When I mention this to people, many ask me why should anyone have been
suspicious of a young man who lost his grandmother and his girlfriend on the
same day. What signs were there to evoke suspicion?  That however, is the
point.

Looking used to be a journalists job, not parroting press releases and
taking the word of the authorities. It wasn't because they were suspicious
-- except to the degree that an attitude of verification was supposed to be
the hallmark of the profession. Also, you would look into the young lady's
life, not expecting to find out she didn't exist but because knowing more
about her, a detail about her young life , would make for better copy. You
might find out she was on the yearbook staff, a straight-A student or won
third prize in a pottery contest. A quick call to an old teacher or
classmate, and you'd have a quote for your article, a bit of a scoop, a new
angle on the story. The first place you'd look is for her obituary, knowing
that some of the names and details of her life would probably be included.
Of course there was no obituary. And, this was a national story, a real
chance to do a little more and get some recognition that would help your
career. No one apparently thought so.

This has its corollary in fiction. When journalism moves away from
investigation and verification, it is all the more acceptable to do so in
fiction. I see two ways in which this leads to lower quality writing. The
first is the investigative attitude that helps us re write things to make
them clearer, to answer the questions the reader is likely to have. The
other is a more parallel habit - the research and inquiry necessary to
create verisimilitude. 

My husband occasionally finds supposed scientific facts in best selling
novels that push him away from that sense of being in a real world.
Teachers, writers and publishing industry professionals say or write that
you should do the research to find out how things actually do work, if
you're going to use them in a novel. Yet, this practice seems less important
than it once was.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Pollpeter
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2013 1:24 AM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Quote to ponder

Is it so much lying or is that we should imagine beyond what is currently
stated as possible and impossible?

Perhaps a quote like this is more meaningful for people who are blind
because we face on a daily basis attitudes and perceptions stating we can't
do things. Many of us know that most of what is considered the truth of
reality is really just a perception that can be changed.

In terms of lying, a teacher of mine said that as long as we make what we
write believable, that's all that truly matters. Of course they were saying
this specific to fiction.

In particular, this is what a great fantasy writer must accomplish in order
to draw us into a world that is fantastical; to make us believe what is
happening. Any fiction though must have characters that are three
dimensional, that are believable and relatable. In essence, our imagination
must become a metaphorical pop-up book, grin.

One of my favorite fiction novels is Memoirs of a Geisha. I believe the name
of the author is Arthur Golden. The story is about a Geisha in Japan
happening during the 20's to the 60's. Golden is neither Japanese, a Geisha,
female or living during a portion of the time periods in which he writes
about, yet the novel is a beautiful, compelling story. He becomes the
authority; his imagination created this story about circumstances he has no
first-hand experience of.

With any nonfiction, it needs to be based in reality and not completely
fabricated. When it comes to creative nonfiction, conjecture can be used as
long as it is somehow stated as such, and dialogue is encouraged, which
probably won't be verbatim but remembered to the best of our knowledge as
long as it isn't completely made up. POV and tense can be played with as
long as the story itself is true. Of course perspective is always suspect
because we all can witness the same thing and bring a completely different
perspective. What stand out to me or what I remember and felt at a given
time can be vastly different from someone else.

Anyway, I think definitions can be loose and vary from person to person, but
writing on any level, in any form, is about making a person believe.
The word author derives from the word authority, so any writer, fiction or
nonfiction, is deemed as an authority on what they write. It's our ability
to make readers believe, to compel them, to persuade them, to draw them in
that makes us good writers. Whether it's really true or not, perhaps at the
end of the day it doesn't really matter...

Bridgit


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