Comments on: Truth, Subtext and Memory Sticks http://www.jet-pack.net/?p=534 Stories. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:03:46 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Ryan http://www.jet-pack.net/?p=534&cpage=1#comment-347 Ryan Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:25:38 +0000 http://www.jet-pack.net/?p=534#comment-347 Good point about truth vs. fact. As a journalist, I regularly lament that I'm often writing about or editing facts, when I wish I could be working on something true in the broader sense. Not to say that we don't cover or uncover true issues at the paper, but hammering out facts can sometimes bog down the heart of a story. I've always thought that if I ever became a writer of fiction, I'd tell people I did so in order to write about truth more often. But then I remember that I can work harder at writing and truth in the medium currently available to me. How do you shake, however, the feeling that you're working less with truths and more with cliches? Themes of how we treat each other, how we handle stress and change etc., how we react to oppression, and the like can make for true stories, but have been done over and again. At this point, is the best writers can hope for a fresh voice with which to tell an old truth? I think I already know the answer I'd give, but I'll still throw it out there... Good point about truth vs. fact. As a journalist, I regularly lament that I’m often writing about or editing facts, when I wish I could be working on something true in the broader sense. Not to say that we don’t cover or uncover true issues at the paper, but hammering out facts can sometimes bog down the heart of a story. I’ve always thought that if I ever became a writer of fiction, I’d tell people I did so in order to write about truth more often. But then I remember that I can work harder at writing and truth in the medium currently available to me.

How do you shake, however, the feeling that you’re working less with truths and more with cliches? Themes of how we treat each other, how we handle stress and change etc., how we react to oppression, and the like can make for true stories, but have been done over and again. At this point, is the best writers can hope for a fresh voice with which to tell an old truth? I think I already know the answer I’d give, but I’ll still throw it out there…

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