Everyday Canvas

Reality or Truth

Prompt: "Novelists should never allow themselves to weary of the study of real life." What are your thoughts on this?

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Ahha! Big sister Charlotte again! The domestic realist.

In Charlotte Bronte’s time, realism meant copying external life and nature with correctness; thus, it is understandable that she would utter those words, and I agree with her, but only to a degree. If one’s style is stark realism such as when writing contemporary, historical, or psychological fiction, the study of real life would help because that will be a factor and a solid basis to add believability and relatability to the work.

Then there’s the profound and literary style of writing regardless of the genre. With that, a semantic confusion occurs as to the discrepancy between what is real and true. If an imagined character or situation is imagined but not “real” and if it is showing a hidden truth about the inner workings of humanity, a serious study of real life could help but only up to some point. As imagination is a strong asset, it needs to be given its very own platform, too, regardless of what Charlotte Bronte calls the real life or the social framework and its significance.

In any case, it is good practice for writers to be on the lookout for anything and everything happening around them, just in case those things will pop up in their imagination changed into one form or another to enhance their writing.

Prompt: Emily Bronte wrote "Wuthering Heights." After Emily died, her sister Charlotte rewrote this novel. Would you like someone rewriting your novels after you have passed on? Just curious.

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To tell the truth, I don’t care as I don’t sweat over things I can't do anything about.

Each generation can do what it likes with what’s left to them from the earlier generations. That’s the way of the world and that has proved to be good or not so good over the millenniums. Imagine all the good stuff that has been lost to wear and tear and neglect, for example, but are we going to cry over spilled milk? No.

What we do at this time shows our ways of looking at the world and gives a hint of our personal experiences. If by some chance, in the morass of today’s publications and what is posted on the internet, another person finds and takes what I have written and rewrites it, it will be their business, not mine.