Why Truth Talks?

Why do I work with writers orally / aurally? What is it about speaking that lends itself to truth-telling?

Speaking out loud bypasses your left brain, and so your analytic, reflective, thinking self has no time to butt in on your intuitive process. Speech is spontaneous. You can’t stop it. It’s present and irreversible. It is also transient, which is maybe why it feels safe to spew it out quickly and hope no one heard.

Speech is also flawed. We stutter, fumble, hem and haw in ways we never would on the page. In other words, it is natural and personal to you. You are being heard exactly as you are in that moment.

In Truth Talks, I listen for “telling details” that pop and resonate as the writer talks. I listen for what sounds important. I listen for sighs, pauses, and for things that are left out. And I listen to my own intuition, following my hunches as I question and direct the conversation.

After, I send the writer these words and notes, along with a Zoom recording. I hope in this process to model for the writer a way to bypass the inner critic and follow what feels right for her.

Writing On Both Sides of the Brain by Henriette Anne Klauser has inspired me on this path. Check it out here.