Honesty is the best policy...kind of

Begin deep breathing exercises, now...

I started to write this two days ago, but I had to stop. Too much like a rant. I've learned over the years that sometimes I need to count to 10 before I speak, send or post. Occasionally I have to count a little higher, like to 1,000, until the moment passes and I can function as a human again. Not everything is fit to publish. And honesty isn't always the best policy.

When I was a kid, I played role playing games on a TI-99 4a where you had to type the instructions and read the results and they ran on cassette types. But that's not important now. It just means I'm really old. What is important is there was honesty. Truth. Simple.

Now of course, at times, honesty came after getting caught, but honesty was pure and unadulterated. But let's face it, the present day world wouldn't appreciate the story of George Washington and the cherry tree because long before he confessed the marks on the tree would have matched the axe, where particulates would have been found, plus DNA and fingerprints would have convicted him before he had the chance to come clean. Honesty is a murkier subject now. What does that mean for a writer?

Honest...and open?

A writer has to be true to his characters to be honest with the reader. But choosing when and where to reveal insights are critical to advancing the story line. Much as in real life, people do things that seems out of character, but that's what makes a story interesting isn't it? So timing is everything with honesty. And how honest do you need to be?

There is a fine line between truth and being brutally honest. A friend asked me one time if I thought he was crazy. He was being honest with me, so I was honest with him. My answer was supposed to be no. I meant it to be no. But essentially my explanation was sort of a yes...to him. But I didn't say that he was crazy, not in so many words (although it is apparent that I use more words than are necessary and sometimes the message can get muddled.) I should have started with "No." Honest. Then I could have talked about my observations of his behavior, the way he reacted in certain situations, the way he shared ideas and interacted with people. I could have avoided the brutally honest answer, and the confusion.

Typically, those who are open and honest are respected, even if the message delivered is painful to hear. The writer is guarded, performing the balancing act of being honest with open and honest (or brutally honest at times.) My writing to date has been me sharing my personal experiences. Honesty plays best here, even if it can be a little on the dramatic side. But in order to develop as a writer, and create some interesting reading, I need to move closer to the black side of the dichotomy, playing within the shades of gray (not THOSE shades, just being general here.)

Sorting it all out

I have always loved murder mysteries and detective shows. Columbo, Charlie Chan, The Thin Man, are some of my favorites. Sorting through all the accounts, each individual story, trying to determine what information you're being given, is all very challenging. And you get all sorts of levels, honest information, lies of omission, and outright deceit, and you have to put it all together to get at what actually happened. It's an arena I definitely plan to explore in the near future.

But for the present, especially since school has begun again, the holidays are right around the corner, and my time isn't always my own to use as I wish, I have decided to review some more of my old writings and ramblings. Most of them are more than 10 years old, some of them go back almost 25 years. There should be good material there, even if not in it's entirety, but just snippets that need some polish.

Character building

The relationship between reader and writer is similar to a marriage. It's isn't always pretty. It isn't always perfect. But if each is willing to grow together, the results can be wonderful and rewarding. And since this is really the courtship phase, we have some catching up to do. I didn't start writing like this. My style and outlook developed over time. In between new ideas, I can share some old ones with you. We have a lot of ground to cover so we'll have to get it going.

As we hop in the WABAC Machine (the reference is from the original and remake - so you don't have to be that old to get that one) I promise I will be honest with you, my reader. But I won't always be open. Does anybody want to be in Stephen King's head? Gotta be pretty creepy on the inside considering what has come out of it. You don't want to be in mine either. It can get kinda dark up there (plus a bit cluttered) and they have yet to make a CFL or LED that's going to get the job done, so let's reserve our conversations (where obviously I do most of the talking - if you know me, you're laughing yourself out of your chair right now) to the parlor or the coffee shop down the street, some place comfortable enough or where you can make a break for the door if you feel the need to escape.

I'll be honest. I have changed this post several times and edited myself over two days. My editor has been busy and I've been out of town a bit over the last week, so I've been distracted to say the least...just taking it day by day, as the Incomplete Writer.