“Truth is often vastly more stranger than fiction” – EV Lucas, Face on
the Wall
I read the story as a kid and this sentence has stuck in my
head ever since. Again today I found myself wondering on similar lines. I am a
fiction writer. I like telling stories. I like making up things – people and
situation. Today, I was wondering does a fiction writer lie for fun?
I have never lied in my life. I don’t like to. A subjective
view, of course. I believe it serves no higher purpose. I don’t conceal
anything about me either. So, as you would imagine, I am an open book sort of a
person. People just need to ask me anything, and I have always told them the
truth. Lying does not agree with me. The lengths I would have to go to protect
that lie make it absolutely unviable, for me, to lie.
Being secretive is not my thing either. It just makes people
suspicious, I believe and they become more nosy than I like. So I just go
ahead and tell people what they want to know. I have nothing to hide. Or so I
thought up until today.
I realized I am probably more of a liar than anyone of my
friends and acquaintances. I lie for fun. I lie when I write. I make up
characters, place and people. I write with the authority of a seasoned
journalist about life after death, about things that will happen in the future
and about spirituality, religion and philosophy.
I have often said and still maintain that even while narrating incidents to friends and family, I embellish, exaggerate. I try and keep the central idea the same. That is why I never tire from repeating. Every time I narrate I take the liberty to tweak some little detail. Add more light to some other. It keeps me and the listeners engaged. It give me joy to entertain with trinkets of my imagination.
I got to wondering how and when did I start making things up.
It seemed like we all have a need for a little bit of excitement, a little bit
of drama in our lives. Some people get addicted to that and become compulsive
liars. There are others like yours truly who become compulsive writers. We all
need a dose of drama in our lives. It’s a perfect foil for the drudgery,
mundane and monotonous nature of our lives. There are people who steal, cheat
just for that bit of adrenalin. It keeps us going.
I'll close with a quote from self - "All good stories need embellishment."
2 comments:
If slight tweaking of truth or exaggeration makes the anecdote juicy and is harmless, then why not!!
But those who steal cheat for bit of adrenalin, need to visit themselves deep within to get rid of adrenalin dependence. Because their behavior can cause harm to themselves and others.
The dilemma of a writer! How far to go with the exaggeration, how far to stretch the imagination. Great post!
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