Half-truths.  Twisted realities.  Hedges on facts.  Good old-fashioned lies.

As a truth-teller (most of the time, though if I were a liar, how would you know…) I find my writing reflecting my own personal notions of honesty when it comes to communication.  One day I would sincerely like to try writing a piece with an unreliable narrator.  Sure, I have characters that lie to other characters, but I would like to write a character that lies to himself.  As if the stream of consciousness of said character were so riddled with known falsities that it takes over the perceptive abilities of the character.

Don’t you think that is the primary element of a dishonest narrator?  In order for lies to be told to others or oneself, there must be a judgment cast on the veracity of perceptions or statements.  You have to know when you’re lying for it to be a lie.  Otherwise, you’re just delusional or uninformed.  Delusional and ignorant characters are great, but they don’t have the bite of a true pathological bender of truths.

Writing Prompt #9 – Dishonest Narrator

Write a one to two-page short with a dishonest character.  Practice dialogue riddled with lies and inner dialogue riddled with lies.  Then, when finished, write a paragraph about how YOU felt writing a dishonest character.  Was it exhilirating or taxing or scary?  Then, if you feel up to it, share your results with me via the comments or email me your work.

To kick it all off, here’s a pic of my cat.  Note the sign on the fence.  I live in a house of lies.  LIES!

Maybe the cat ate the dog.  Must beware of cat now.