Have you ever told a lie?
Willfully attempted to deceive?
In communications with my test readers, I reveal little things about them to the others using pseudonyms so they may keep their privacy. The names may contain clues to some aspect of our relationships and allow them to follow along as I send e-mail updates regarding my progress.
“The Alchemist,” for instance, really studies alchemy. He’s helped me for many years as I adjust to changes in my life and to probe it’s edges.
A couple of years ago The Alchemist looked at me sternly and with no preamble said, “You’re a liar.”
I do not hold myself up as a paragon of virtue to anyone, but lying is not something I’m particularly fond of – nor good at. Another reveal was coming, “What do you mean?”
“You’re writing fiction. It’s not true.”
“The things I write about are possible,” I protested. “It’s true I’ve made up the characters and what happens to them, but the actual things –”
“By definition you are a liar.
“Don’t feel bad about it, Jeff. All artists are liars. We attempt to represent truth using our medium to convey its meaning to our audiences.”
Today I pause to consider his message.
With fiction I can compress time.
Stephen Crane in his novel on the Civil War, The Red Badge of Courage, did an excellent job describing how large battles are actually intense localized events with many people on the sidelines supporting the action, waiting for it, or rushing towards it.
Life does not need to be a battle but, as Crane illustrates, there’s usually not a whole heck of a lot going on in a person’s daily routine that’s worth telling. We get up in the morning, perform our habitual rituals and at the end of the day prepare to start over in the next.
With time compressed, a story’s action becomes more fluid and easier to understand.
Fiction allows an author to tune the presentation of jewels within scenes so they may be better appreciated by readers.
Drama allows the message to become compelling, an irrefutable truth accepted by readers and characters alike.
Generally lies are harmful and should be avoided but, to paraphrase the remainder of The Alchemist’s message – Any attempt to tell the truth in our earthbound reality is ultimately incomplete and in error.
The positive use of lies allows us to reveal a truth more clearly. Lies can protect people we care about, or lead people in a preferred direction.
By writing fiction, I am able to show readers an easier path than the one I trod.
By not writing an autobiography, I am able to protect certain friends from exposure. Their true situations are not part of the novel. Preventing accidental disclosure is an especially important consideration in this 24-hour information stream we now live in. As readers of Unfolding: Nexus will see, disclosure coupled with rumor can dramatically and irrevocably alter a person’s life.
In attempting to conceal the identities of people used as inspiration while writing Unfolding: Awakening, I’ve told a lie and damaged a friendship. I’ll do better next time.
Here is an example of a lie which is part of the human condition and quite funny:
A pint-sized Darth Vader uses the Force
One evening decades ago after declining marijuana, I assisted in a similar stunt to illustrate that people don’t need recreational drugs to expand consciousness. When we focus our minds, anything can happen. Anything is possible.
Looking back, I feel a twinge of guilt for taking advantage of their trust, but marijuana was an evil distraction at the time and if a little sleight of hand showed another path, it was better than an argument.
A bunch of college students where having a party and invited a friend and me.
When the drugs came out we declined and showed them how to light an electric bulb with our combined mental will. The light bulb they gave us wound up in one of our pockets, substituted with a fake which had a battery in it.
It’s funny how something like a trick light bulb shows up at just the right time. I had been carrying it for a few days, fascinated by the toy and sharing it with everyone I met. Another intervention by The Universe?
I wonder how their lives turned out.
Tread Carefully,
– Jeffrey A. Limpert
__________________
Image Information:
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/23662057@N03/5431646083/
By Eric The Fish (2011)
Amazon – Unfolding: Awakening
Addendum:
Art is a deception that creates real emotions — a lie that creates a truth. And when you give yourself over to that deception, it becomes magic.”
`Marco Tempest – w/acknowledgement to Clause Debussy
Here’s is demonstration of truth and lies incorporated into technological magic by Marco Tempest.
Marco Tempest: The magic of truth and lies (and iPods)