Comments on: About Me, Or Not About Me

By: Elena Greene

Elena Greene — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:01:51 +0000

There’s the old adage of writing what you know but taken literally it makes no sense for many genres, including historical fiction. I prefer another directive I heard: to write what you love. That makes sense to me because if you love something you’ll reserach it deeply enough to make it real and know how to embroider in the gray areas.

Still I always worry that there will be someone who actually knows what color the furnishings were in the Pulteney hotel in London in 1816… :)

By: Susan Flemming

Susan Flemming — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:25:50 +0000

Good heavens… I just reread my comment… that should have read… someone from rural Canada. I had originally written… would a Canadian recognize Penney’s wilderness as their wilderness but decided to rephrase because there are probably millions of Canadians who would have no more personal experience with Canadian wilderness than the author does.

By: Kathleen Bolton

Kathleen Bolton — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:07:13 +0000

I forgot to mention that American publishing is grappling with the scandal that some memoirialists are being outed as fabricators. It raises troubling questions: can fiction’s demands for drama and tension truly mesh with the truth of someone’s experience? Does the desire to write a compelling narrative undermine what really happened? Is important anyway?

I once wrote a scene about women harvesting flax and turning the fiber into threads. I’ve never done it myself, but I think it was a credible scene because I researched the hell out of it.

Needless to say, I cut it because it didn’t move the story forward. :-( Such is the writer’s life.

By: Susan Flemming

Susan Flemming — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:12:42 +0000

I haven’t read The Tenderness of Wolves but I think the true test would be… did Stef Penney get it right? Would someone from rural Canadian (such as myself) read her book and say… yes, that’s what our wilderness is/was like.

But that’s really the true test for any story. Are the details authentic?

By: Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:06:53 +0000

p.s. looking forward to hearing more about this new YA concept you’ve got cooking! :)

By: Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:05:34 +0000

Interesting post, Vicky! I fully believe what you said about the holy trinity of research, imagination and empathy. Story is born in imagination, is fleshed out with research, and is given blood and bone through whatever we writers draw from our emotional wells (which is full of our life experiences).

By: Kathleen Bolton

Kathleen Bolton — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:44:35 +0000

Whaddya mean you’re not–gasp–a cat?! You got some ‘splaining to do, missy!

Seriously, your post is terrific and anticipates our interview with Ralph Keyes. He argues that we must draw from the deepest part of ourselves to be able to produce compelling fiction, and that means delving into all the scary unpleasantries we might not want others to know about. But that’s where the gold is. But I’m with you, there are some things that need to stay in the box.

Good luck on the new YA project–I’m sure it’s going to be wonderful!