Is there a place for the truth in writing?
'Oddly, Cheever never created a character as talented, intelligent or cultured as himself; these are all smaller people than he seemed to be, but they are scraps of him.' (Kureishi, H. Cheever Collected Stories 2009: xi)
If you're thinking about fiction, then yes, there could be a place for the truth ... but it depends on what type of truth you're talking about and where it comes from. As Cheever demonstrates, he cannot keep himself away from his stories. In my opinion, it wouldn't be surprising that many other people may have written stories that contains scraps of the author - I for one, in my early works, started off by basing my character's facial appearance on myself. It is quite easily done.
Truth can also inspire the author within their works based on events that they have seen and experienced in their lives. J.R.R. Tolkien is the perfect example. His experiences in World War I and religious views influenced his writing in Lord of the Rings. 'The rhythm of war flows through his writings, but his own interpretation of the themes, symbols, and motifs of war were influenced by his religious views and his interest in fantasy, which ass another layer of meaning and a sense of timelessness to his writing.' (Croft, J. <http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/C/Janet.B.Croft-1/war_and_works_jrrt.htm#Where%20to%20Order> 2004)
This provides a good argument, I enjoyed the way you incorporated something that interests you (Lord of the Rings) to back up your argument and I completely agree that its hard to keep at least some of ourselves out of our writing!
ReplyDeleteThe formatting of this post has definitely improved since the last one.
ReplyDeleteYou have taken a general look at truth and it's place in writing, and in doing so you've presented a well-argued point of view.
I'd like to see more of how it relates to your own writing.
I quite like the idea of a writer being unable to keep themselves away from their stories. Being nosey, sorry, curious, is always a good place for a writer to start from and, with that in mind, how could you resist putting yourself at the heart of whatever is going on in the narrative? That is part of the appeal, I think, hearing everything, seeing everything, knowing everyone in the story. Harold Pinter may have disagreed. He often gave the impression of not much caring where his characters came from, or went to. He was only concerned with what they did whilst they were around, i.e. on the page/stage.
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