On the topic of lying · 10:09am Aug 24th, 2015
I was writing on 18.5 when I remembered something I wanted to talk about a long time now:
Lying
Lying is a big part in our daily lives. May they be small or big, everyone lies in his live at some point for various reasons. That also includes every character in Journey so far. Thiemo lied to himself for a long time. About his motives and very reasons to do what he does.
Amaryllis talked herself into believing that Chrysalis was a good mother.
Celestia lied to her ponies about the humans.
And so on...
But still, you won't find the words "he lied", after a character besides the current main character spoke in this story anywhere. Why? Because how should he or she know that the other lied just right there? I will give you an example:
Back on the train, when Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Estoc were following Thiemo and Amy after their escape, Rarity and Estoc shared a bed. But later in the Empire, Estoc told Thiemo that ponies only had sex during season. A lie that Thiemo couldn't identify. So of course there was no "Estoc lied" after he said that to the human.
This is all part of my philosophy that all my stories require that the reader has to think at least a bit for himself. That things hide between the lines more often than not.
I agree for the most part but I do feel the need to nudge them once in a while or give some kind of implication what is being told at points may not be entirely truthful (unless there is a very good reason for no one, not event he audience, to suspect falsehood). I generally only ever put 'he lied' after dialogue parts not because the characters in my story neccessarily knows or suspect the other character is lying but because the audience knows damn well said character is lying and can get a bit of a chuckle about how bald faced said lie is, even if the liar is being entirely convincing to the other characters.
Damn, that's deep, I like the idea.
I agree with Handyman there. Even if you dont specificaly write "he lied" there should be at least some implication for the audience, some way to know that the character is lying, if they are.
Well.. but sometimes lies are revealed late in the story.... Everything is so highly situational
While I agree a good story doesn't have to hold the reader's hand, a little hint that a character is lying is still good. For example, there was really no indication that Estoc was lying. For all we knew, he and Rarity only cuddled in the train car, or perhaps Rarity was in heat. We didn't have enough information to determine that was a lie. To be honest, after Estoc said that, I was thinking Rarity was going to end up pregnant.
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While I don't point out every small lie, I always left hinds for the bigger ones.
For example:
Chrysalis told Amy that it was impossible to turn into a human. And that she told Thiemo. But then we had the flashback where Echidna was a human. And now we are on earth, with changelings running around as humans. That is one lie our heroes will notice soon.
3343571 And that's a really good hint. It's not too blatant, but it's still easily deduced. The one with Estoc, though, just didn't have enough information to figure it out. You do a really good job of not giving all the answers, and I love how you do it, but that one could have used more info.
Lol now you are giving me work on top of school. Least this can be fun and it makes it, shall I say more... realistic.