Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing

by Betsy Warland

He was shocked to discover that his journals contradicted his memory about very significant events. For example, he was certain that he had driven his lover to catch a plane and initiated their breakup on the way to the airport. In his journal, it was she who initiated the breakup on the way to the airport. I suggested to him that apparent action isn’t always the most authentic action: he may have passively orchestrated their breakup (and this is the intention he remembered) though, on the surface, it was his lover who broke up with him. This is an example of where our poetic licence as writers is crucial. Our evoking of emotional truth is often more respectful of the narrative’s integrity than factual truth is. This, however, must be done consciously and ethically.