Leaving out relevant details deliberately is a trap that I can fall into very easily. There are a few reasons why I might leave out important details. Any of the following are motives for me to avoid mentioning facts that should be included in my nonfiction writing: First, I would be tempted to leave out anything that would embarrass me or people that I care about. A second reason is that I would not want to reveal more about me than I am willing to share. Third, I might want to forget some particulars about the past that have bad memories for me.
Occasionally, things that seemed important when they occurred may not seem important to me when I am writing a piece. I do not want to write something inaccurately because I cannot recall all of the details. So, I may choose to omit that section.
2 comments:
I agree with your reasoning on why you would want to omit some details.Sometimes they are just too personal to share, or they just dont fit with the point of the story. I also agree that it is important not to disclose information about others that they might not want the world to know. Also, forgetting things is hard enough and writing about them isn't always theraputic. So I guess in other words...I completely agree with you!
I am interested in the comment about forgetting. Do you think "forgetting" might collaborate with the first two reasons? So that selective forgetting can help to develop a clear explanation or storyline? Not like you intentionally left things out - just like they weren't "relevant" to the story you were telling. One of your classmates pointed out that selecting particular details is one way of favoring one particular truth. In some ways it is impossible to do otherwise. Ah, well, this is complicated.
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