Oops, due to a busier than usual past couple of months that went by in a blur, I just noticed part 3 was never posted. To make my trilogy make more sense to you, I’ll to post parts one, two, and three consecutively:
Is fiction the 21st Century’s nonfiction? From many points of reference, it is. We are inundated with the gyrations and hubris of movie stars, politicians, government, sports figures, singers, authors, You Tubers, bites & bits from social networkers, and staged stunts on “reality” shows, most of which/who are anything but legitimate or authentic. This Stuff, lacking in veracity, is pitched to us as nonfiction, and it has moved so far over-the-top that it has become difficult to separate fiction from nonfiction, illusion from truth, and fabrication from fact.
The media serves up the lies, air-brushed & siliconed lovelies, cover-ups, and pathetic excuses and insincere apologies for bad behavior, while a whorl of adoring fans and supporters suck up this fiction as truth. I wonder if these actions are because some of them don’t know any better, or is it that they just don’t give a flying fig? We belly-up to bunk in one form or another on a daily basis, and, whether we believe the drivel or not, it seeps stealthily into our collective consciousness. But most of us crave honest emotional reactions that come from taking in truths that we don’t have to second guess – genuineness that just sits-right in the gut.
I realize that in writing this on The Story Woman blog, I’m probably preaching to the choir – there’s always hope for validation. With this little rant out of the way, I’ll get back to you in a couple of days with a few thoughts on the topic of where truth and honesty fit into the literary world of writing fiction and nonfiction. I surprised myself with where some of this line of thinking has taken me. Truth is often stranger than fiction, but is it as entertaining? Let me know what you think.
Is truth as entertaining as fiction? I believe it is, mainly because most people are thinking, “That could have been me, or some of us are saying, “that is me – it did happen.” And many people may be thinking, ” I want to be just like that.” We entertain ourselves by dreams.
Whether we are saying ” Thank God, I’m not that bad,” or we laugh at the human foibles. After all, people are silly creatures.
Frequently, we can read and temporarily appropriate the philosophy of the protagonist and escape into their persona, who lives in drama, excitement, and acceptance; and for the length of the book, the oatmeal life seems more like caviar. We entertain ourselves by escape.
But beyond that, I believe all fiction has elements of truth, – facticity and verasity. If not the character and the situation, then surely the emotion. Even Avatar had the truth.of emotional response. We are entertained by emotional release.
I read once, that 11 people influence us every day. Whatever we see or hear (or read) can leave residue in our conscious mind. Fiction and non-fiction (including sci-fi) are both entertaining and educational. I have learned something from every book I’ve ever read. Even some I deemed not very well written, and didn’t finish.
The most powerful medium on earth is words: spoken, written, overheard, sung, or acted out. Words create atmosphere, pain, color, dreams, regrets, and hope. We are entertained by words.
Truth: sometimes stranger than fiction, and in this reader’s opinion, equally as entertaining.
Hi Sharon,
Thanks so much for your interesting comments. As always, you hit the mark.
It is that residue you mentioned left in people’s minds after reading stories of any kind that I find most intriguing. That’s why I ask memoir writers to keep one question upper most in their minds when framing their stories, “What ideas and images do I want conveyed to readers?” When writers craft their work well, they give readers openings to make emotional connections that resonate uniquely with them.