The title of my blog is a reference to Phillip Lopate’s assertion in To Show and to Tell that “the people on the page” in both fiction and nonfiction must appear to readers as both plausible and surprising. In other words, writers must get real people on the page. In order for writers of personal nonfiction to convey the sense of themselves as a genuine personality, Lopate suggests, they must gain a sense of distance from themselves. The writer must turn the self into a character.
I want to extend Lopate’s assertion to apply to writers of personal nonfiction who share deeply personal, emotionally difficult experiences in their writing. In order to get the person and the person’s experiences on the page, writers must gain distance from their experiences. Achieving distance allows them to narrate their personal stories in ways that are both truthful and artistic.
As Brenda Miller and Susan Paola reveal in their book Tell It Slant, “Truth takes on many guises; the truth of art can be very different from the truth of everyday life.” I want to explore the idea that in order to tell the truth of our experiences, especially our difficult, unpleasant, embarrassing, or psychologically damaging experiences, we must find our “slant.” We must find a way to express what may defy a straightforward telling.
I have spent the last several years struggling to get my own difficult personal truths on the page. In the process, I have studied the works of writers who have done it admirably. I have accumulated a wealth of research and stacks of personal writing in my effort to understand the role that writing can play in coping with trauma, and the means by which writers turn their traumas into aesthetically pleasing prose.
As I continue in my efforts, I want to share the insights I have gained from my research with others who may be struggling to tell their own stories. If through my blog others may be encouraged in their own personal writing and provided with information to help them discover their own slant, I will be gratified.
Person on the Page 