Blog @ Work

Writing and truths

Motivation Monday! Singer Joni Mitchell, born on this day back in 1943, once said "Chase away the demons, and they will take the angels with them." What do you think about this? Is it necessary to have demons, if only to keep the angels around? (30-Day BC)

I have a hard time believing in angels or demons, although I know there are people who believe in them. I am not sure whether they exist other than in stories. I do believe however that you can have difficulties in your life and call those demons. It’s more like a metaphor. But I don’t want to jinx anything by writing about them, in a way I am a superstitious person: If you talk about something a lot then you make that visible and therefore it can have bearing on your life and in a way it exists then. So by denying them the floor I deny that they have power.

Prompt: When writing fiction, is showing the race of a character important especially when it has no bearing on the plot? Why or why not?(BC)

Three months ago I got a review back on a story I wrote in the first person singular. I was referring to a woman, being a female myself. But the reviewer, who was male, totally read this as being a male main character. It totally changed the perspective on the story. I thought that was rather cute. It reminded me to not fill in too many details so that readers can identify with the characters from their own perspective. Race is such a thing. If it has no relation to the plot I am not going to mention it so people of all races can identify.

Prompt: "I want to remind writers to see themselves as witnesses, and always speak the truth to the people, as well as the power." E. Ethelbert Miller, The Writer's Chronicle. What's your take on this quote? What do you think it means?(BcoFs)

I think it means that Miller thinks writers are bound to tell the truth all the time and be faithful to the power they have or the power outside of them. I agree on the last take, but not the first. Writers are lying all the time, distorting and fixing reality, making things up as they go along. But I believe we have an obligation to be faithful and sincere about what we are doing. That’s totally another matter. For the witness reference, I think he is right: writers are witnesses to whatever is out there, whatever is happening and because we can write about it, we have an obligation to tell, talk, and write about what is going on in the world. “If you want to know the world, turn to poets and writers.” That is a quote by me.