Truman Capote was known for embellishing his experiences. When questioned, Capote responded, “Well, if it wasn’t true, that’s the way it should have been.”
In my case, I did not need to embellish the background to the stories I’ve found, where the human spirit must rise above the horrors and scandals that plague our globe. All I needed to fictionalize were the characters and the events. Or, as Tom Clancy said, “the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.”
More of my favorite quotes about writing and reading fiction:
“An unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.” –Ursula K. Le Guin
“Societies never know it, but the war of an artist with his society is a lover’s war, and he does, at his best, what lovers do, whish is to reveal the beloved to himself.” – James Baldwin
“When I want to read a good book, I write one.”
--Benjamin Disraeli
“Story is to human beings what the pearl is to the oyster.”
--Joseph Gold
And then the one whose source is unknown, but it is the one that applies to my writing: “Take a skeleton out of the closet and dance with it.”
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Great post, blog! Thanks for sharing! These quotes are among my favourites too!
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind a suggestion of mine? Do you use sites like zazzle.com, cafepress. com, fiverr? They could be a good way to promote your works and to help "remove" stupidity in the streets like headlines on t-shirts, fridge-magnets, cups, etc: My Boyfriend kisses Better Than Yours, FBI - female body inspector, etc. Not everything we see and think of should be about sex, right? It would be much better if there were more nice pictures of mythical creatures, good thoughts, poems from fantasy genre, etc? I'm allanbard there, I use some of my illustrations, thoughts, poems from my books (like: One can fight money only with money, Even in the hotest fire there's a bit of water, Money are among the last things that make people rich, All the problems in the world lead to one - narrow-minded people, or
Let's watch the moon, let's meet the sun!
Let's hear soon the way the Deed was done!
Let's listen to the music the shiny crystals played,
let's welcome crowds of creatures good and great... etc).
I guess such stuff sound and look much better than the usual we see every day? Best wishes! Let the wonderful noise of the sea always sounds in your ears! (a greeting of the water dragons'hunters - my Tale Of The Rock Pieces)