writing camp 7/12 the blurry business of truth, finding the story w/Gil Dennis, Michael Ondaatje reads

7/12...I'd already fallen into a pattern of waking up at 6:49 am Pacific time (why?!?), checking emails/voicemails, listening to some charlie parker, going for a longgg walk, attempting to find something decent for breakfast (what happened to all the bananas people? in fact, what happened to anything resembling fruit??) and then re-reading the pieces being workshopped that morning...Since I was up in today's workshop, my walk was a little longer & I threw some nick cave & ac/dc in with the charlie parker...being workshopped for me usually feels like a cross between going to the dentist for a root canal & having one of those "we need to talk" conversations...anyway, onward...I won't bore you all w/those notes but move on to the seminars of the day, "The Blurry Business of Truth: Rescuing the Memoir 2:00 pm Few writers believe in a neat divide between fiction and nonfiction. Most of us, regardless of what genre we’re working in, dance back and forth through the porous border of lived and contrived experiences. What is a writer’s responsibility to “truth” when writing memoir? Has our understanding of truth become too flexible or are these liberties essential for the craft to excel as art? Panel with Nick Flynn, Karen Karbo, Lee Montgomery, and Anthony Swofford." Although this panel featured Nick Flynn, Lee Montgomery & Anthony Swofford, all of whom I think are great, my notes aren't extensive...here's what I actually wrote down: "narrative drive/scenes"; "I don't think the well of craziness will ever run dry" (Nick Flynn); "How 'true' is a memoir? How do you define what's allowed? Stick to the thruline of what happened" "the idea of lived life vs. narrative life"...then there was extensive discussion of the legal/vetting of text...and discussion of dialogue in narrative - Swofford's p.o.v. that "creating" dialogue w/in the text is okay as long as the dialogue is actually in keeping with something the person would have said & in their vernacular (I'm wildly paraphrasing here because, frankly...my notes on this panel suck)...Lee Montgomery actually took notes on her family, including var. dialogue & could refer to them while writing her memori...my only addt'l notes from this panel are, "write from a compassionate place"..."she's been hijacking my fiction for years" (Lee Montgomery on her mother)..."You think you know the beginning & the end but realize you don't know anything" (Nick Flynn on nonfiction)...wish I had more notes from this one but all the legal talk really numbed my brain...onwards...next up: 3:00 pm FINDING THE STORY "In this famously effective seminar, our special guest Gil Dennis discusses the tools that he uses to discover a story. " If you don't know who Gil Dennis is, imdb him...Here are my notes, make of them what you will...Story prompts "What is the most terrifying thing that ever happened to you? What is the saddest thing? What is the most shameful thing you've ever done? What is your most joyous/proudest moment? The time you laughed until you cried? What's the most angry someone got at you? What is a story someone told you to save your life?" "transcribed literally" "the failure of your perceptions - gives you style" "most stories are linked" "terror is the back story to shame - which are the back story to the joyous moment" "3x5 cards with prompts re: incidents - go where you don't have a moral purchase - can't get to the high ground" Extensive discussion re: Peyton Place story prompts & Walk the Line/J.Cash...This was a wonderfully inspiring seminar & hopefully I'll have time to sit down and write it up with the justice it deserves. Following his seminar, I went to (you guessed it) cocktail hour, had a brief conversation with Gil Dennis (really, really nice guy!) and met some new & interesting people...Michael Ondaatje read that night from a new work, from "Handwriting" and from "Anil's Ghost" (read it if you haven't yet!)...here are my notes after wayyyy too many hours under flourescent lights..."they are a strong breed, clockmakers"..."safer than galloping into darkness"..."ghosts as manifestations of guilt"..."painting the eyes of Buddah"..."Scaramouche - 1st book read; the 4 Feathers - 1st film" "I don't think people think like Jane Austen"..."the truth is always waiting to be told"..."never again will a single story be told as if it was the only"...yeah, I know...sorry about that...the reading was wonderful but my brain was melting by the time the Q&A started...afterwards, I headed off to the "reception" and had a long talk with various classmates (workshop-mates?) during which Bryan (who writes well in the lyrical register) and I decided to write a novel together called, "Primo Levy's Staircase" (his title...not mine so just hush)...well it was funny at the time...