Voices: To find answers to my family's roots, I'm writing a novel

NBC News anchor and reporter Morgan Radford's great-grandparents' journey from Jamaica and Cuba to the U.S. spurred her to delve into her heritage in a new way: through fiction.

I’m a journalist, which is why, at first, I was shy to admit that I was writing a novel.

After all, fiction is a funny thing. Part art, part science — it’s the kernel of truth, the real moment of an experience lived — distorted, reframed and made to matter.

Isn’t fact — undistorted and unfettered — what matters most? Isn’t that why I have dedicated my life to the telling of truth, listening to thousands of stories shared with me at kitchen tables, polling stations and small businesses across the country?

NBC News' Morgan Radford reveals inspiration behind debut novel04:20In fact, it was on one of those journeys to a town often forgotten, buried deep in America’s heartland, that I was reminded of something I’ve told myself time and again, specifically during my hardest assignments: Truth is always the most interesting story.

Whether based in fact or fiction, stories help us see ourselves — and understand our neighbors — especially when the categories that currently exist don’t capture the freedom and nuance of the human spirit. These narratives are often the vehicles by which we learn history, teach history and — if we’re lucky — find connection.