Comments for Eva Holland http://evaholland.com Freelance writer, editor and researcher Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:08:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ Comment on The Rumpus Talks Truth in Memoir by Davis http://evaholland.com/2012/01/25/the-rumpus-talks-truth-in-memoir/#comment-630 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:08:23 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=653#comment-630 Elliott is quite right. Memoir and autobiography, though formally nonfiction, are literature. That is to say: they are art. And as art the product ought be creative and interesting to read, and that a thing actually happened is no sufficient justification for including it in your narrative.

You should never lie, if for no other reasons than that lies can be found out and a seductive lie may mislead even you. If a fact no longer fits your intended narrative, it is plainly unnecessary to your story and you owe a duty to your reader not to burden them with it. A crucial skill in art is knowing what to omit. Without that skill, a Michelangelo sculpture is just a block of marble from the quarry and the finest tale is just a bunch of things that happened.

Take responsibility for your own story by deciding what is important and what is just something that happened. Your judgment of this will unsurprisingly change over time. Your task as author is not merely to collect facts and lay them out for your reader to make sense of, but to select and marshal those facts in order to tell the truth that you believe is behind them. Your readers expect no less.

]]> Comment on Sitka. Swoon. by evaholland http://evaholland.com/2012/01/20/sitka-swoon/#comment-625 Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:25:25 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=647#comment-625 Mike – Fact! Lola – Yes! I’m dying to get back there in summer.

]]> Comment on Sitka. Swoon. by Lola http://evaholland.com/2012/01/20/sitka-swoon/#comment-621 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:00:58 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=647#comment-621 Gorgeous!

]]> Comment on Sitka. Swoon. by Mikeachim http://evaholland.com/2012/01/20/sitka-swoon/#comment-618 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:54:37 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=647#comment-618 That’s….not an ugly landscape. It’s a fact.

]]> Comment on My Year in Writing and Reading by Lola http://evaholland.com/2011/12/30/my-year-in-writing-and-reading/#comment-595 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:00:09 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=588#comment-595 Looking forward to more Eva in 2012! And congrats on the latest gigs as well (you mentioned on FB)

]]> Comment on My Year in Writing and Reading by JoAnna http://evaholland.com/2011/12/30/my-year-in-writing-and-reading/#comment-592 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:47:52 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=588#comment-592 Congrats on a good year – despite the roller coaster! I’m excited to see what you have in store at UpHere for 2012.

]]> Comment on My Year in Travel: 7 Photos by Nancy D. Brown http://evaholland.com/2011/12/20/my-year-in-travel-7-photos/#comment-590 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:59:23 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=597#comment-590 Looks like a fun year. I loved my time in Anchorage covering the start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Those dogs sure love to run!

]]> Comment on My Year in Writing and Reading by Julie http://evaholland.com/2011/12/30/my-year-in-writing-and-reading/#comment-588 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:08:27 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=588#comment-588 Looking forward to 2012, too! Can you put the direct link to the UpHere piece- couldn’t find it on the site.

]]> Comment on My Year in Travel: 7 Photos by evaholland http://evaholland.com/2011/12/20/my-year-in-travel-7-photos/#comment-585 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:35:16 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=597#comment-585 Thanks, Lola! JoAnna – The volunteer gig was great. Unfortunately the resulting story isn’t online, scanning it is on my 2012 to-do list. Ha.

Also, I can’t recommend a DIY writing retreat strongly enough. I rented a little cabin and locked myself away with no phone, internet, etc. for three days. It was fantastic.

]]> Comment on My Year in Travel: 7 Photos by JoAnna http://evaholland.com/2011/12/20/my-year-in-travel-7-photos/#comment-584 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:20:25 +0000 http://evaholland.com/?p=597#comment-584 How was the volunteer work with the Yukon Quest? That sounds like fun! Also, I love the idea of a DIY writing retreat. I need to do the same.

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