LINDSEY’ WRITING PRACTICE: WRITING FICTION-When Lying Reveals the Truth

Renowned fiction author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemons) was known to be as much of a liar as two of this most famous characters: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Flynn. (In fact, the author himself boasted of his deceitful nature.) And yet, like his novels containing those protagonists, his lies (in story form) were devised to reveal dynamic truths.

Take, for example, many conversations between Jim, an escaping slave, and protagonist Huck reveal the lack of humanity—and duplicity—of a nation touting such ideals as freedom from dictators when it enslaved so many human beings within it.

So—for this month’s writing practice, ask yourself: Do I lie? What about? And if fiction or stories, ironically, reveal some “truth,” how might the lies I’ve told (or considered telling) do this?

Then, write a story—or even a novel, if you’ve the time—centered around your lie.

Please—like Mr. Twain—remember to have fun with this, too.

About Lindsey Martin-Bowen

On Halloween 2023, redbat books released Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s 7th poetry collection, CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison. Her 4 th collection, Where Water Meets the Rock, was nominated for a Pulitzer; her 3rd, CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison was a finalist in the QuillsEdge Press 2015-2016 Contest. In 2017, it won the Kansas Writers Assn award, “Looks Like a Million.” Writer’s Digest gave her “Vegetable Linguistics” an Honorable Mention in its 85th Annual (2017) Contest. Her Inside Virgil’s Garage (Chatter House Press 2013) was a runner-up in the 2015 Nelson Poetry Book Award. McClatchy Newspapers named her Standing on the Edge of the World (Woodley Press/Washburn University) was one of the Ten Top Poetry Books of 2008. It was nominated for a Pen Award.

Her poems have run in numerous lit mags, including New Letters, I-70 Review, Thorny Locust, Coal City Review, Silver Birch Press, Flint Hills Review, The Same, Phantom Drift, Porter Gulch Review, Rockhurst Review, 21 anthologies. She taught lit & writing at UMKC & MCC 25 years, and taught law for Blue Mountain College in Pendleton, Oregon. She holds an MA from the U of Mo. and a JD degree from the UMKC Law School. Previously, she was reporter for The Louisville Times and The SUN Newspapers, an associate editor for Modern Jeweler Magazine and the editor for The National Paralegal Reporter.

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