Telling the Truth in Writing

I don't know what it is about telling the truth; it's almost like we're afraid we'll hurt the other ones feelings if we do.

Photo by: arimoore, courtesy of Flickr

And maybe we will.

Because, when it comes to writing, I sometimes find myself doing the same thing for my main character. You know, protecting him or her from the ills of life. Instead of having her face the "giant" I have her finding out the truth early on and walking away from "him."

Telling the truth is important, and sometimes, even in real life it comes out bluntly.

You may have a character that is truthful to a "hurtful" fault, and you may have another that cannot see who they are and are always pretending to be someone they're not.  Both of these scenarios work in a book of truth telling; but a character that shy's away from danger just because you don't want him to "feel bad" is not the truth.

The truth is, you may not want your character to have to go through difficult stuff, and this will hurt your story.

You need tension.

Photo by: Leonard John Matthews, courtesy of Flickr

You need trouble.
You need a character who struggles and overcomes.

And you can only do that as a writer if you tell your readers the truth.