“The stories that we repeat again and again in our families, in our groups of friends – why do certain stories stick?”
“Sometimes we deliberately don’t know, even when we might know…. You have to imagine not knowing.”
Fact and uncertainty, I think, is where fiction often can grow.
“Fiction writers have to be experts on humanness, not on fact.”
“It isn’t the truth, it’s what we do with it.”
—Peter Orner, Five Things I’ve Learned about Messing with the Truth (In Order to Lie)
Thanks again to the great Peter Orner, who joined us live last Sunday night to share all he’s learned about the ways that great writers bind fact and invention to create something new: the fictions we cherish.
Sunday’s was Peter’s fourth Five Things I’ve Learned session. And like the others, it was a wonderful way to learn how one of America’s most accomplished writer encounters and experiences the poems and stories he loves. In Five Things I’ve Learned about Messing with the Truth (In Order to Lie), Peter details his responses to the ways that some of his favorite writers use real-life facts, memories, and experiences as the starting point for creating fiction. In the process, he illuminates how fact and imagination combine to produce experiences that feel true even when they are invented.
It was a really wonderful way to spend time with Peter. If you weren’t able to join us live, please check out the free Replay of the session below. Then, if you haven’t done so already, please take a moment to discover Replays from five more writers we admire.
-The Five Things I’ve Learned team
View the replay of the first five minutes of our live class from celebrated novelist, essayist, short-story writer, and professor Peter Orner. Then, check out the two-hour archive and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the ways that great writers bind fact and invention to create something new: the fictions we cherish.
View the Replay of the first five minutes of our live class from poet, fiction writer, and essayist Kim Addonizio. Then, check out the two-hour archive and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about the opportunities that personal writing offers writers and readers – and about the strategies and approaches you can use right away to tell the stories you need to tell about your own life.
View the Replay of the first five minutes of our live class from internationally-acclaimed writer Rabih Alameddine. Then, check out the 90-minute archive and discover the few things he’s learned about the elasticity of identity and imagination.
View the Replay of the first five minutes of our live class from bestselling writer and teacher Steve Almond. Then, check out the two-hour archive and discover the Five Things he’s Learned about the powerful emotions that serve as the engines of our storytelling – and about the ways that these emotions show up in literature, shape our writing, and inform our lives.
View the Replay of the first five minutes of our live class from acclaimed historian and writer Catherine Grace Katz. Then, check out the 90-minute archive and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about how to uncover and share the stories that challenge our ideas of history.
View the Replay of the first five minutes of our live class from writer and speaker Stephanie Land. Then, check out the two-hour archive and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about writing that breaks down walls and encourages empathy toward others – and about how you can claim and share your personal expertise in your own writing.
Spread the word. Share this replay with someone you know.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.