the room for truth

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)

Adventures of Writing

How is it I became a writer?

I started writing at fourteen. I don't know exactly why I started writing, except that I became lost in my imagination. You look at humanity day by day and see people wake up, work, eat and sleep in a repetitive cycle until they have served their purpose ... all in the name of progressive growth for our country. Where is the adventure in that? That is what I lust for and that is adventure. I guess that I became a writer to escape from the tyranny of life. My goal is for a successful career in which I decide when I retire, the pace of how much I write, and whether I want to seek out a publisher or risk self-publishing my story.

'Life is a box of chocolates' - Forrest Gump (1994)

That, in my opinion, is what being a writer is like. As a writer, you never know where you're going to be swept off to. Each flavour is an adventure waiting to happen - a door to a mysterious room waiting to be unlocked. You are forever exploring ... and chasing. As a writer, you're chasing a goal that will be very difficult to catch, one that you will never know when you achieve it. Even though that there will be difficult times in chasing this goal, when you do catch it, you will then realise that the chase is what made this career fun.