Sometimes I don't know which voice to respond to. Some of them are definitely shouting louder than others. But doesn't the whispered plea or the pitiable whimper garner more attention? Who is to say? And whose story do I tell today?
I am like everyone else. I like to follow the path of least resistance. Take the easy way out. Paint with broad strokes. But I resist. I fight my weaker self and often go against the grain. Sail into the wind. Roll the boulder uphill.
Anyone can tell the amusing story. But to draw the reader, if but for a moment, into the skin of the teller, to taste the bitter irony and then cause them to laugh in spite of themselves is more difficult. Most humor is unexpected. Try to telegraph the obvious joke and still make them laugh.
Comedy, drama and chaos all dwell in the details. The dust motes that drift in the slanted light that penetrates a motel room at the end of nowhere. The chill mist that creeps against a cabin door and causes a scared child to pull closer to the family dog who dreams of dark wanderings of his own. The fugitive who patiently rubs the fine finish of his employers luxury car while considering the man's teenage daughter. These are the details of life.
The line between reality and fiction is necessarily vague. To know the one dispels the other. The reader asking, "Did that really happen?" means I have succeeded. It is, indeed, a fact that all writers are liars. It is also true that we are truth tellers. Done correctly, the truth transcends the lie. It will instruct and edify. What matters reality if we have learned something about ourselves in the process?
Fact and fiction also dwell in the details. All is true. All is a lie. It all depends upon how receptive the listener and how creative the teller.
No comments:
Post a Comment