3 Hard Truths For Writers (From Verity By Colleen Hoover)

Have you ever related to someone so f*d up…you almost admitted yourself to the nearest hospital ward?

This is an excerpt from my article 5 Hard Truths for Writers (From Verity by Colleen Hoover). Click here to read the full article!

Colleen Hoover’s bestselling book Verity is a skin-crawling read I couldn’t put down right from the first line.

For the protagonist, Lowen, what starts as a heartbreaking yet hopeful ghostwriting gig quickly turns into outrageous claims, deceitful truths, and open loops. Hoover carries us through an emotional romance thriller while toying with our own humanity, beliefs, and fears.

While many critics and readers are wondering how Hoover so eloquently crossed endless (and invisible) lines while still leaving us starstruck through each chapter of Verity’s autobiography, I want to dive deep into three truths Verity shows that every writer needs to consider integrating into their craft.

Lesson 1: Give warnings, then Proceed?Without?Caution.

At the beginning of?So Be It?(the book within the book), we meet Verity at a very vulnerable spot. Not only is this the beginning of her piece...it’s the moment many readers will close her book and never return.

Her disclaimer is so clear that it acts as a natural vetting system without any additional work on Verity’s part.

Why?

Verity knows that, as a writer, she has one job: Provide the opportunity to move away and never look back. Then, for those who stay, move the readers through the story, by whatever means necessary. Her author’s note states,

“A writer should never have the audacity to write about themselves unless they’re willing to separate every layer of protection between the author’s soul and their book…No one is likable from the inside out. One should walk away from an autobiography with, at best, an uncomfortable distaste for its author.”?(p.61)

As writers, I’ve found we often add rose-colored glasses to our watered-down truths, especially when we begin typing them on a page or writing them inside a notebook.

What would it feel like to say, “Hey, I’m about to share my deepest, darkest secrets with you. It’s gruesome. And I don’t plan on you liking me afterward…but you’ll finally know?me?”

For me, It’s electrifyingly terrifying, leaving this as my writer’s kryptonite.

But that’s the thing about pre-planned disclaimers: After I admit I’ve made human fuck ups in my human life and you may be very, very disappointed after reading them, it is the reader’s choice to stay and my duty to follow through.

Lesson 2: Lie??No.?Embellish, stretch, and consume??Yes.

One of Verity’s first stories is about the night she met her husband. After a short game of cat and mouse, they find themselves in the back of a limousine covering a quick consultation topic–age. After being called out for lying about her age, Verity tells Jeremy,?

“I stretch truths where I see fit. I’m a writer.”?(p.68)

While I’ll never tell you to lie, there are times when it is our job to stretch the truth, get the click or page turn, and continue fueling the story.

While this is a huge NO in non-fiction and a slippery slope inside copywriting, a writer’s mission is to get their words read. Sometimes, this comes with the cost of embellishing our novel, story, or response.?

In copywriting, blatant lies are spread accidentally, purposefully, and tragically.

When we take a look inside bro-marketing tools and tactics, it’s easy to identify the trauma-enforcing patterns of shouting ‘hero’s journey’* and having broken humans flock for a cure. So, how do we…lie...ethically?

We confidently speak limitless truths while still accounting for human experiences. This doesn’t mean to claim a product works when it doesn’t, but it could mean painting a fantasy dreamscape of true, real outcomes the product or service can provide, accounting for different entry points from the audience.

In non-fiction, stretched truths may appear as dramatized events filled with bias and misled statistics.

You didn’t think every non-fiction story was entirely omitted from lies and slander, did you?

Non-fiction work, as we see in many school textbooks, is a mere recollection of stories passed down, studies completed by a small fraction of the world, and the pieces of truth we’ve mixed with the holes we haven’t filled.

The author’s goal is still the same: get the reader to turn the page, by whatever means necessary.

In fiction, lies are limitless.

I will actually go as far as to say that lies are non-existent altogether in fiction because how can a lie be created in a made-up world?

Stephen King clarifies this brilliantly by arguing, “Fiction is the truth inside the lie.”

Fictional authors carry their readers through a journey no one has ever walked, with the hopes their readers will feel one with the story anyways.

The better you are at getting a reader to feel all-encompassed with your story, the stronger it’ll sting, stick, and stay.

As Verity says, “I was good at spewing bullshit. It’s why I became a writer.”?(p.206)?

Lesson 3: Stop Asking and Start Publishing.

A writer’s job is to form an unbreakable link of words into a digestible flow that moves the reader, not portray themselves as the holy grail perfect writer.

While it’s human nature to seek validation, aching for everyone to approve of your work will ultimately leave you as a starved artist. Instead, stop waiting for the perfect moment to share your self-proclaimed breathtaking work and start publishing your shitty?“I can’t believe I wrote this OR that I’m publishing it but here we go”?work.

When we pause long enough to think whether or not any of our work is ‘worth’ publishing, we remove the ability for our audiences to make empowered decisions around consuming our stories…and may eventually end our craft altogether.?

Shortly after Verity loses her children, she realizes, “it had been six months since I’d written anything. I needed to get back in the groove. I already missed a deadline”?(p.254).

Now, I’ve stopped writing pieces more times than I’ve published work, and much like Verity, I have felt like ‘there’s nothing left to say. No future to write about. No past to redeem’?(p.278).

Yet, I don’t often push through the same way Verity does.

She says,

“My mind was in such a dark space…as a writer, the only way to clear your mind is to let darkness spill out onto a keyboard. It was my therapy, no matter how hard that may be for you to understand”?(p.300).?

Even in her darkest, life-altering moments, she reluctantly leans onto her craft and lets the words spew out to teach her readers and students how to feel, surrender,?and write.

We can’t merely stop after writing, though. Verity reminds us how dainty a writer’s heart and soul can be after publishing new work when a friend, spouse, or family member asks to read it. After her husband finds her first story and asks to read it, she thinks to herself, “I didn’t know if it was any good, and I was scared–terrified–that it would make him love me less if he thought I was a bad writer”?(p.87).

Here’s an unpopular opinion for you: It’s none of your business if every reader thinks you’re a phenomenal writer. It is, however, entirely your responsibility to ensure that the heart and guts of your reader move through your story. Maybe they’ll think it sucks. Maybe they’ll think it’s terrifying. Maybe they’ll fall in love with you. None of that is your business once you’ve added your disclaimer and they’ve turned the page. Let them feel.

Hoover’s book?Verity?provided many lessons for many aspects of life, but she allowed Verity to teach writers how to show up with ugly truth, twisted authenticity, and underlying transformations. Whether you choose to read this addictive thriller next or not, the 3 truths listed throughout this essay can turn your writings into extraordinary, but believable, stories that leave your audiences stunned and drooling for more.

Click here to read this full essay 5 Hard Truths for Writers (From Verity by CoHo).

I highly recommend this quick 321-paged fiction novel to anyone who is willing to read it, but this is your warning: this book is not for the weak-stomached, overly sensitive, or easily put-off group of bookworms.

Verity is a dark showing of mental battles, codependency, and secrets, and even you may want to stop reading every few chapters.?You can find the trigger warnings for this book here.

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I'm Jess-

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