Where Can Truth Be Found In Writing?

Many people love to disagree with the notion that there is a place for truth in writing: that everything MUST be embellished or altered in some way in order to force the reader to think a certain way, or to form a certain opinion. However, I believe that for some, writing is the only way to express personal truths.

I take Emily Dickinson as my example; her poetry is thought to reflect a lot of what happened to her and around her. For instance, before she isolated herself from most of society in the 1860’s, Reverand Charles Wadsworth – who she described as her “closest, earthly friend” – left her life when he returned to his home in the West Coast after visiting her. Some believe that this gave rise to the poetry that she wrote in the years that followed. Poetry that is described as heartsick.

Although, this is all just surmised, critics still struggle to interpret her work because she was so hesitant about revealing it. Dickinson’s writing was a comfort to her. She probably included her most honest thoughts and feelings in her poetry; she just did not want to expose these truths to others.

Perhaps because Dickinson wrote for herself, and for only a few selected others, her writing could be more truthful than – perhaps – someone writing an autobiography for the masses. Dickinson had no reason to embellish or exaggerate, but if someone wants to be perceived a particular way with their writing, perhaps some manipulation is necessary.

                                                             

VS

 

Happy Endings

Margaret Attwood says that before her love of writing began, she always had books: “no-one ever [tells you that you can’t] read a book.”

When I was a young child I did more reading than anything else; it was quiet so it appeased my parents and it was something you did alone, so I was quite happy. This reading quickly evolved into making up my own stories. I would tell my baby brother stories when we couldn't sleep, my imagination keeping us company when we were alone. I began realising that in order to improve upon and remember these stories I needed to write them down. I eventually filled many notebooks in scrawling childish writing, yet often never returned to the story. I was just comforted that I had it there in case I ran out of ideas.

According to Carl Jung, as humans we each contain a collective subconscious, a ‘reservoir’ of experiences that express themselves in our writing. I think I tapped into this reservoir quite regularly when I was a child, in an attempt to create a clear difference between reality and fantasy. Every single story I wrote had a happy ending - I wanted to avoid bad things happening because that was too close to reality. I made all of the characters as perfect as I could; they were brave, intelligent and funny. As I have grown, and my writing has matured, I've realised that some of those traits have stayed with me. I especially still love a happy ending.