The only time you can lie

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The only time you can tell a lie is when you are writing fiction.

As a writer, you either make the strange familiar, or when we become too familiar with it, make it strange.

Writing fiction is an exercise in telling lies. First, to yourself, then to the reader. You tell stories that are yet to exist or didn’t happen until they become a form of truth.

You create a world that exists only in your imagination, and write about it in ways that make the reader part of this shared experience.

That lie is useful.

Especially because of how it makes us feel. It reminds us of what matters - to you, to others, and to the writer.

First published here.

Thoughts?