In my opinion, trying to guess what readers want is the wrong approach. You have to tell your story as best you can and as true to yourself as possible. You have to be honest and fair and vulnerable and foolish and brave, and not care what anyone thinks of it.
Interpretation
Authenticity matters more than trying to cater to others' expectations in storytelling.
In this quote, Jeannette Walls emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself when sharing personal stories. Rather than attempting to predict or conform to the desires of an audience, she advocates for honesty and vulnerability, suggesting that the most genuine stories come from a place of courage and self-acceptance, regardless of external judgment.
In practice
In a writing workshop, to encourage participants to be true to themselves.
I was in control of what people thought of me, but I had no control over what they thought of my mother. When I asked my mother, 'How do I tell people about you?' her answer was, 'Tell the truth'. But of course, the truth is never simple.
I hadn’t been paying much attention to things like the sunrise, but that old sun had been coming up anyway. It didn’t really care how I felt, it was going to rise and set regardless of whether I noticed it, and if I was going to enjoy it, that was up to me.
Some people who've read my story think I had a terrible childhood and that I was neglected or even abused, while others feel that my parents, while certainly flawed, also had truly wonderful qualities. And that's the way it should be, because in real life two people can look at the same president and one will see a hero and the other a villain.
You can't cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is "If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim
When people kill themselves, they think they're ending the pain, but all they're doing is passing it on to those they leave behind.
I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.
Sometimes I dream a sentence and write it down. It’s usually nonsense, but sometimes it seems a key to another world.
All art is contemporary art because it had to be made when it was now.
The arts are neglected because they are based on perception, and perception is disdained because it is not assumed to involve thought.
My passion is bringing storylines around and constructing a full body of work rather than just a 16-bar verse.
In an essay, you have the outcome in your pocket before you set out on your journey, and very rarely do you make an intellectual or psychological discovery. But when you write fiction, you don't know where you are going - sometimes down to the last paragraph - and that is the pleasure of it.
In the elder days of art Builders wrought with greatest care Each minute and unseen part, For the Gods are everywhere
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.