Truth

'Truth seems to want expression. Unacknowledged truth saps your energy and keeps you and your characters wired and delusional. But when you open the closet door and let what was inside out, you can get a rush of liberation and even joy.' 

~ Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird 

What lies beneath

In fiction, as in life, all is revealed through the actions of our characters.

Characters, like people, don’t always tell the truth. They often say what they think is true, or what they’d like to be true, without arriving at a clear expression of their most salient psychological reality.

Usually it’s because they hold multiple truths – layers of thoughts, feelings and motives - which are tangled together in complicated ways.  They may not always be aware of them. Or they may be hiding them, from other people or themselves.

The right words

‘I’ve been studying history,’ Peter said. ‘I’ve been learning things about patterns in human behavior. There are times when the world is rearranging itself, and at times like that, the right words can change the world.’ 

From Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card