Janelle Brown’s Journey Through Facts and Stories
By Janelle Brown
June 12, 2025
In a world where factual accuracy reigns supreme, Janelle Brown found herself longing to explore the uncharted territories of storytelling beyond the rigid realm of journalism. Her transition from reporting to fiction writing was not merely a career shift, but a voyage into a more profound understanding of truth.
The Dawn of Digital Journalism
Brown began her journalism journey in the mid-1990s, a time when the internet was a nascent phenomenon. Armed with a unique skill in HTML, she carved her niche at Wired Magazine’s digital arm, HotWired. “I found myself in the curious position of helping define the new medium of digital journalism,” she recalls. This era served as a fertile ground for her future endeavors in narrative storytelling as she navigated the burgeoning dot-com landscape.
Wrestling with Objectivity
Though immersed in the digital culture, Brown yearned for a broader perspective. The close proximity to her subject matter often blurred her view, leading to biases and misconceptions in her reporting. The pressure to deliver absolute truths, coupled with the inevitable human error, pushed her towards a personal reckoning. This friction ignited her passion for fiction—an arena where she could shape narratives without the confines of objective limitations.
Fiction: An Avenue of Artistic Liberation
The allure of fiction lay in its freedom. Here, Brown could place imagined dialogues into characters’ mouths, craft complex emotional landscapes, and dive into speculative worlds without fear of misrepresentation. This liberation allowed her to delve deeper into the core of human experiences and societal movements, unearthing an ‘inner truth’ that factual accounts sometimes failed to capture.
Revisiting the Past
Ironically, it was through fiction that Brown returned to her roots in digital culture. Her novel, What Kind of Paradise, paints a rich picture of the 1990s dot-com phenomenon, echoing her initial experiences. Through a fictional lens, she reflects on the cascading effects of technological optimism and its aftermath, offering an intimate look at a transformative era.
Multiple Facets of Truth
Closing the chapter on journalism does not mean abandoning truth, but rather embracing a multiplicity of truths. Brown’s narrative journey underscores the significance of both factual and emotional truths in understanding our world. “There’s more than one kind of truth,” Brown asserts. “Journalism may be about factual truth, but fiction gets at inner truth.”
As stated in Literary Hub, Brown’s shift from journalism to fiction unveils a path where storytelling transcends mere fact, providing a canvas for richer, more nuanced truths.