tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post4970710417591108689..comments2024-03-28T23:20:45.447-04:00Comments on Girlfriends Book Club: It Ain't Me, Babe by Jess RileyWriter Wenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16730769794553260336noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-74074079502444882452011-09-22T17:46:55.491-04:002011-09-22T17:46:55.491-04:00I love that shirt! It's a toss-up between that...I love that shirt! It's a toss-up between that one and "Ask me about my chapbook" or "Best of luck submitting your work elsewhere."Jess Rileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06987689969282168406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-26466519704988867492011-09-22T16:16:20.013-04:002011-09-22T16:16:20.013-04:00I like this post a lot, Jess and also what you wro...I like this post a lot, Jess and also what you wrote Sandra. I find people always think they are the wrong person in my books. Or they think they told me something about themselves I honestly didn't know. Recently friend A told Friend b that she had told me a story I used in Momfriends, but it was really Friend B and I came clean to both of them.<br /><br />I try never to write anything that is directly true and that would hurt someone. I only verbatim steal things that are funny or that I wish I had thought of myself.<br /><br />Still I'm sure I have and may hurt people with things I have written. I guess there are two sides to everything and what I write is just my creatively embellished side of things.<br /><br />The only real solution is to always wear the shirt that devra posted. That is definitely going on my birthday list.ariella papahttp://ariellapapa.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-72993913597647841682011-09-22T15:21:04.976-04:002011-09-22T15:21:04.976-04:00I think our real life always seeps into our fictio...I think our real life always seeps into our fiction. After all, we have to write based on what we take out of life, what we experience. <br /><br />That having been said, I once walked into a book club meeting for my second novel, and one woman--who knew my mother-- was so irate about the mother character. She kept announcing: Brenda's mother isn't like this at all!! So, I would laugh and explain (over and over and OVER) that the book was fiction, but sometimes you just can't win!Brenda Janowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02341902606434073240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-58027057425492817862011-09-22T12:06:44.371-04:002011-09-22T12:06:44.371-04:00Jess, it is always such a joy to read anything you...Jess, it is always such a joy to read anything you write! There is always something to make me laugh and something to think about. Can't wait to read your next books!!Teresa Thielnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-29983125040189713842011-09-22T11:39:45.016-04:002011-09-22T11:39:45.016-04:00Great post, great comments! Reminds me of this t-s...Great post, great comments! Reminds me of this t-shirt:<br />http://www.zazzle.com/careful_or_youll_end_up_in_my_novel_tshirt-235587332634897053Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-51569834274317681122011-09-22T10:55:30.987-04:002011-09-22T10:55:30.987-04:00Sandra, this was such an amazing, thoughtful comme...Sandra, this was such an amazing, thoughtful comment--I loved what you had to say! Thank you. You're soooo right about writing "your truth," and about how people DO want to see themselves in the work (but only in a good light) ;)<br /><br />What you said about intention is really getting to the bottom of things. Too, too true!Jess Rileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06987689969282168406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-2016514848793016632011-09-22T09:54:05.497-04:002011-09-22T09:54:05.497-04:00Not sure there's a good answer for this. My f...Not sure there's a good answer for this. My first novel was based on the fact that my sister ran away from home when she was 17 and never spoke to our family again (well, until recently). A 31 year absence. When I wrote PRECIOUS *everyone* (even the lawyer at RH!) thought it was secretly "truth," to which I said: I have so very few recollections of my sister--I was a little girl when she left--so how could it possibly be truth? I wrote from silences surrounding her leaving, and from blank spaces. In other words, I made a hell of a lot of crap up! But regardless, it did, as you say, cut too close. Many, including my mother, were upset.<br /><br />Now I'm actually writing non-fiction, and I'm sure that will cut even closer, as there's no place to hide, cover, amend, etc. Did I want to write non-fiction? Dish on my family? Hell, no. But I was driven to this state because of recent events (dad's drowning, my sister's recent re-entry into our lives), and 'truth' was the only thing that made sense in telling this particular story.<br /><br />You know what? For as hard as it can be, and as close to the bone as it can cut (and we cut ourselves most of all, don't we?), I think you need to tell the stories you tell, you need to go to those places that sometimes make you (and others) uncomfortable. And people will always 'see' what they want to...I've had people SWEAR that I just wrote about 'so-and-so' when that 'so-and-so' isn't even someone I think about at all. People also want to see themselves there, in a work, if they know you. There is that weird side of it, too. On some level, I think writers can't get so bogged down in 'what will so-and-so think' that they lose their vision, their clarity in the moment, their voice. Then we'd just shut up and be quiet, like most people, about the things that bother us, or move us, or drive us nuts. And then the world would truly go to hell. ;)<br /><br />And it comes down, for me, to intention: I'm not trying to hurt anyone I love or know when I write. I'm just trying to tell the story I need to tell. Writing gives me a way to make meaning. <br /><br />If people get their feelings hurt, well, I hate to say it, but maybe it has more to do with them, than you, or the story. <br /><br />Boy that was a long response. Sorry. You caught me thinking about this *exact* same thing. In fact I took a break from the page for a moment and came here, just because it got a *little* too painful to be in the land of truth!<br /><br />Good luck!!! xo SSandra Novackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03586382750668270794noreply@blogger.com