On Saturday, October 13th I attended an author
reading/panel discussion. The Bendy Truth featured three creative non-fiction
authors and was part of the two-day Victoria Writers Festival.
The venue was
the Young building (room 310) that is, ironically, one of the oldest buildings
on the campus.
The panelists were (from left to right) Christin Geall,
Madeline Sonik and Monique Gray Smith and the host was David Leach (on the far
left standing against the wall).
The authors had a variety of reading styles. Two of the authors read from their books—the other read from printouts. One of the authors
gave a rather lengthy introduction that included details about how she wrote
her story. The other two introductions were much shorter. One of the stories
was written like an essay. Another author blended a lot of dialogue into her
story.
A discussion followed. Here’s what I gleamed…
How did you deal with the challenges of writing about people
you know?
-It took me many attempts over a long period of time
-I left myself open to having my opinion changed—this was
scary
-I changed names and put a disclaimer at the front of my
book
Why do you weave culture and history into your story?
-It just happens—the more personnel the story is the bigger in scope it becomes
-Helps to strengthen the work
Why do you think there is such a growing interest in this
genre?
-Reflection on the realistic period we are in.
-People are looking for truth
-Creative non-fiction has everything that fiction does with
the added bonus that it actually happened
-This genre is about hope—people are looking for that
-People are craving relationship
What books inspire you?
How much should you try to hide the identity of the people you are writing about?
-You shouldn't be concerned about that. You need to own your
truth.
-Put all thoughts of hiding out of your head because that’s
the inner critic talking
How do you choose the name?
-Use a search engine that lists the top 100 names of the
year the person was born
How do you write?
-I close my eyes and just write
-I use the software program: Scrivener. I highly recommend it.
Other thoughts shared…
Writing is an effort to heal
Memoir isn’t written chronologically. The story is the key.
While I listened, captivated, to the readings and discussion,
my husband was waiting for me here…
He wrote this…
Written while waiting
for a writer
Here I sit
For an appointment
missed.
My wife is late again
Though to be fair
‘Tis not her fault
A writer expels his
air.
She hopes to learn
From one so bold.
A subject I could not
care
So here I sit
And bide my time,
What words are worth
the air?
(Even after living with him for many years, he still continues to surprise me. )
I found this on the stall wall in the woman's washroom...
My world sings with creativity--and I am alive. : )
