people are hung sometimes . . .

Joan of Arc on truth. (The Commonplace Project #6)

The Commonplace Project is a daily post based on Ray Bradbury’s advice to aspiring writers: read a poem, a short story, and an essay everyday for 1000 days. These posts start with a quote and go wherever the rabbit hole leads. Follow The 1000 Day MFA so you don’t miss a thing.

“Children say that people are hung sometimes for speaking the truth.” — Joan of Arc, quoted from her trial transcripts in this book.

Today is Joan of Arc’s birthday. She’d be 607 years old.

I nearly chose this quote instead: I am not afraid . . . I was born to do this.

But there was something about the one I did chose that struck me.

This article about Joan d’Arc and how she affected a war was interesting.

I watched the movie The Messenger last night. It’s Hollywood-ized, of course. But interesting, still.

As a children’s book author, I spend quite a lot of time thinking about how much more capable children are than adults generally give them credit for. Especially girls.

I think the quote above struck me, because the idea of a 19-year-old girl — on trial for her life, after leading an army into war — repeating what children say is haunting.

Imagine a girl her age, finding the words to talk herself into an audience with the Dauphin of France, much less convince him to let her lead his army.

I’ve added Mark Twain’s book Joan of Arc to my list for 2019. He considered it his greatest work.

This post is part of The Commonplace Book Project.

Here’s my secret weapon for sticking with whatever your thing is.

Shaunta Grimes is a writer and teacher. She is an out-of-place Nevadan living in Northwestern PA with her husband, three superstar kids, two dementia patients, a good friend, Alfred the cat, and a yellow rescue dog named Maybelline Scout. She’s on Twitter @shauntagrimes and is the author of Viral Nation and Rebel Nation and the upcoming novel The Astonishing Maybe. She is the original Ninja Writer.