Truth or Lie: Where Do You Draw the Line When It Comes to Writing?
Do you think your readers can handle the truth?
I read Ellen McRae’s story, “You Won’t Become The Next Six-figure Writer By Telling The Truth” and was genuinely caught off guard. The subtitle is what particularly made me feel naive: “And why you’re even more foolish for thinking other writers don’t lie.”
But as I read her story, it started to make sense to me. She made excellent points. For example, Ellen writes:
Sticking to the truth doesn’t give you a very creative outlet for your writing. When you’re bound by what exactly happened, you can’t embellish the story to be more entertaining. You can’t add in characters or events that didn’t happen. You can’t add parts to someone’s character that weren’t there in real life.
It immediately made me think of a creative writing class I took in high school one summer. I can’t recall the prompt but I decided to add more action to my story to make it more interesting.
What had been a simple story of camping in my friend’s back yard became a comedic tale of woe. I was proud of myself for making it more interesting. The day we were to submit our papers, the teacher asked me to read my essay aloud. I can’t recall why, but I know I did not volunteer as I didn’t…
