I love storytelling. It doesn’t matter if it’s a vacation lament, a Shonda Rhimes ollercoaster, or a online collection of elementary kids’ in-class storytelling work… I like stories, but I love how they’re put together even more.
Lately, I’ve been reading about trancendentalism which took me to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Nature (you can get the free ebook here). Transcendentalism suggests that the divine, or God, permeates nature, and suggests that reality can be understood by studying nature. Think: Planet Earth. Empathize with the mama polar bear, the lost elephant, the elderly water buffalo who is about to cross the crocodile-filled river.
We all have a truth to tell.
And I think that writing is meant to capture that truth… rather, that is the standard for good writing.
My latest theory is that the characters always have to tell their truth; that the writing isn’t just telling the story, it’s bringing out the truth.
And I like to think that we’re all telling our truths, and the perception of everyone is, at the highest level, how objective and “big” their truth is or, at the lowest level, how much we agree with them.
Makes me wonder about the truths that we and the animals and the earth share…
Man… Rainy days are nice for reflection…