The truth!

Being in this course, the topic of truthfulness is a very important one. My opinion on the matter of truth varies, depending on the literature we are talking about.

There is a technique titled exaggeration, and when writing things myself, I think that is a useful technique. When telling a true story that is very personal and interesting to you, it may not be as exciting to read, and that is where exaggeration comes in handy. By using big expressive words, or by describing something as being ‘fat’ when really it is only slightly plump it can help make writing more interesting for the reader.

There is a line between exaggerating and flat out lying however. Especially when we are focusing on memoirs, which are by nature supposed to be very truthful, lying is just, to me, rude.

When I think of literature and lying, I automatically think of James Fry, and his novel A Million Little Pieces. I watched Oprah praise this book to a great extent, so I ran off to get it, and I was fascinated. Part of the fascination for me came directly from the fact that, at the time I thought all of what I was reading had actually happened to a real, normal person! When word got out that a lot of his writing was in fact fictional, I felt a little taken advantage of.

If an author wants to write about their life, and throw in fun, exciting, FAKE chapters, then they should have to claim their book is based on true happenings, instead of saying it is a true memoir.