The most notable part of Bird by Bird that I received as valuable above all else, is the notion that one should write from the standpoint of truth. Truth is not a finite thing, it is something that each individual can find within themselves. Truth, to me, is what you believe deep down before you let it get filtered through your expectations of yourself in other people's eyes. What do I mean by that? I mean that if you believe something deep down, but don't want to share it with other people or certain other people because they will not approve and you care about that non approval, you change it. The changed truth is not the truth we should write from. Our writing should reflect what is deep down inside.
In my own experiences with writing, I have struggled in this regard to truth. I do not like confrontation, and from that standpoint i find that I like to change things from the point I feel them, to the point that I express them. In my writing now, I try to not filter things like that. Like suggested in Bird by Bird, I try to reflect the truth as best I can from within.
The fiction packet is very cool, not so much because of it's contents but because of what it shows me. From it I can learn that a short story is not always the same format. There can be a short story that is only four lines long, or one that is bizarre in many ways. The shorter stories in the packet, like the one about two red coats, are really cool! They really show that you can inspire mystery in someone with only a few words.
Something that I would like to try with my short stories is to inspire questions in people. I want to make people ask questions, things that they may not want to ask but feel they have to after they read my story. This is a lofty goal, but I think that I would enjoy trying to reach it. The journey, after all, is the whole point of a destination.
.'Till next week,
David Teague Jr
good response.
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