jocelyn Townsend
Stories (9/0)
Authenticity
Intro: ? I am struggling to decipher the beginning, because a writer must choose a starting point on a timeline looped like infinity. As Hannah Gatsby put it in her groundbreaking, commentary-comedy 'Nannet' when we are telling a story, we make a choice depending on how we want the audience to feel. Nannet having been autobiographical had truth to it, yet after the cascading notes of our laughter we are then informed that her punchline led to an actual punch, and suddenly we retrospect on our laughter. This perhaps is why, for all the stories that get written, many do not. We like to think that we are being authentic when we are being truthful, or genuine, yet the act of story telling requires omitting details because no one person can pay attention to all events, atmospheres and perspectives. These ommission are always synonymous to deception, so then what is this authenticity that we aspire for? This is my discomfort with the word.
By jocelyn Townsend 2 years ago in Confessions
The Fear Creatures, the Siren, and the Mist Filled Path
It wasn't so much that anything happened when the mist was thick, besides a trick of the light that left my neighbours alert--the unknown has always caused men to tremble. Simple men, I called them, who feared the mist. They differed from me, who, with the mind of a scientist sought the unknown and found wonder in ambiguity.
By jocelyn Townsend 3 years ago in Fiction
A Writer's Guide to Academia
A Writer's Guide to Academia: How to Write like an Academic Step One: The Rough Draft The first rule to academic writing is to clearly convey your ideas. This usually includes jotting down your thoughts in a way that is decodable to you at the current moment that you are in. What this means is that while your thoughts on paper will hardly resemble how they appeared in thought you have accurately scripted them and nothing was lost in translation.
By jocelyn Townsend 3 years ago in Journal
The stories that define us
Compassionate1 is a word that often gets thrown in my direction. It happens often; so often it actually scares me. I’ve known myself my whole life and as much as I’d like to say I always act compassionately, in honesty, I cannot. I recognize, if not fixate on, my short comings so I have wondered why this word became a descriptor of me. I've even wondered if it was due to the fact that I am a small woman? Will the descriptor change when I stand up for myself or others? Am I still compassionate when I walk away from abusers or hold systems accountable; or does my compassionate disposition disappear the moment I show a different face of humanity?
By jocelyn Townsend 3 years ago in Criminal