When I was a kid, I got in trouble for lying a lot, and I had a teacher say, 'Instead of lying, write it down, because if you write it down, it's not a lie anymore; it's fiction.'
Interpretation
Writing transforms lies into fiction, which can be a creative outlet.
This quote highlights the creative potential of writing. It suggests that instead of viewing dishonest statements as mere fabrications, one can consider them as seeds for storytelling, thus framing a negative action in a more positive light. Writing can turn a lie into a form of art, allowing for expression and creativity.
In practice
In a classroom setting, a teacher might use this quote to encourage students to channel their imaginative thoughts into writing instead of lying.
'Brown Girl Dreaming' was a book I had a lot of doubts about - mainly, would this story be meaningful to anyone besides me? My editor, Nancy Paulsen, kept assuring me, but there were moments when I was in a really sad place with the story for so many reasons. It wasn't an easy book to write - emotionally, physically, or creatively.
In the midst of observing the world and coming to consciousness, I was becoming a writer, and what I wanted to put on the page were the stories of people who looked like me.
Sometimes you do have to laugh to keep from crying. And sometimes the world feels all right and good and kind of like it's becoming nice again around you. And you realize it, and realize how happy you are in it, and you just gotta laugh.
I don't want anyone to walk through the world feeling invisible ever again.
The strength of my mother is something I didn't pay attention to for so long. Here she was, this single mom, who was part of the Great Migration, who was part of a Jim Crow south, who said, 'I'm getting my kids out of here. I'm creating opportunities for these young people by any means necessary.'
I would have written 'Brown Girl Dreaming' if no one had ever wanted to buy it, if it went nowhere but inside a desk drawer that my own children pulled out one day to find a tool for survival, a symbol of how strong we are and how much we've come through.
We must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.
When you doubt between words, use the plainest, the commonest, the most idiomatic. Eschew fine words as you would rouge; love simple ones as you would the native roses on your cheek.
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
I think you have to listen to the people who are deeply unhappy. You have to find the source of it and not overreact to the craziness in it.
Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.
No single, individual moment is in and of itself unendurable.
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