Comments on: Write what you know…but not everything you know…

By: rebeccakuder

rebeccakuder — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:07:16 +0000

Yeah, I wish I were in the candle business! :)

By: arden

arden — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:02:22 +0000

Nope – I did mean J.T. “terminator” LeRoy. Meant it as in “s/he” (Savvanah Knopp) portrayed the fictional author who was really SK’s sister-in-law, and pretended that the “fiction” was really memoir.

Ah, yes. A good story indeed!

As for Frey, I think that was so overblown. (i.e., the meat (as it were–sorry vegans) of the story was all true–the exagerated part (his police record) wasn’t even relevant to the story… And/but/so b/c he fictionalized one part, it all became a joke. Which means a lot of people will never read the book. And that’s too bad b/c there is a lot of great non-fiction (mainly, dealing w/alcoholism) in the book.

Better light another candle…

By: rebeccakuder

rebeccakuder — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:00:24 +0000

I think you mean James Frey, right? I think the JT Leroy stuff was supposed to be fiction. But of course the ultimate fiction was the author. I think my brain just folded into itself again. :)

By: arden

arden — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:00:13 +0000

And then there’s the fiction-pretending-to-be-memoir genre that had so many enthralled…

J.T. LeRoy, RIP.

“So what? It was a good story. Light a candle…”

By: rebeccakuder

rebeccakuder — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:44:02 +0000

A really good point. And thanks for the link!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:32:29 +0000

I think it’s powerful to name it even if you have to change names. You own your truth, which is ultimately what people want to read about in your essay. So for a reader, I don’t think the real villian’s name is important. I figure you write what you want, and leave the other stuff up to lawyers and editors when it comes time to publish!

If you haven’t checked out http://shereadsshewrites.ning.com/ take a look — there’s a group for memoir writers and this subject comes up a LOT.