Everybody is an expert on one thing - that's what I learned in my high school journalism class - and that's, of course, his own life. And everybody deserves to live and have his story told. And if it doesn't seem like an interesting story, then that's the failure of the listener, or the journalist who retells it badly.
Interpretation
Everyone has unique experiences and stories that are worth sharing; it's essential to listen and appreciate these narratives.
In this quote, William T. Vollmann emphasizes the idea that each individual has their own unique perspective and experiences that shape their life story. He suggests that the responsibility lies with the listener, or journalist, to recognize and convey these narratives faithfully. If a story seems uninteresting, it reflects a failure in the listener's engagement or the storyteller's ability to express it meaningfully, highlighting the importance of empathy and understanding in storytelling.
In practice
Using this quote in a workshop about personal storytelling.
There have been times when I'm writing about things that are personally embarrassing. Like any human being, sometimes I can't help but wonder - 'What are the people I know going to think about this?' So I have to remind myself that all is permissible. Art has to be a free space. Language has to be a free space.
When I'm dying, I want to think I did what I felt was best for the words I was writing. This may mean, at any time, that I won't be publishable anymore.
I think," Tehanu said in her soft, strange voice, "that when I die, I can breathe back the breath that made me live. I can give back to the world all that I didn't do. All that I might have been and couldn't be. All the choices I didn't make. All the things I lost and spent and wasted. I can give them back to the world. To the lives that haven't been lived yet. That will be my gift back to the world that gave me the life I did live, the love I loved, the breath I breathed.
Sometimes I go, “What am I doing with my life?” But then I get letters from young women, or people come up to me, and they say, “You’ve made such a difference to my confidence.” And that is a good thing. I should read more fan mail though. I’m crap at responding.
Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not every day. Not today. Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all. Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair and the Doctor comes to call, everybody lives.
You've got as many lives as you like, and more, even ones you don't want.
Life once conceived, must be protected with the utmost care; abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.
The individual stats, that stuff is fun, but it doesn't last. Somebody else is gonna come along and break your records. But the memories that you take are forever.
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